As you begin to craft resolutions for your precinct meetings and the county convention, please use the following process to guide your drafting.

The Resolution Process
Orange County Democratic Party
2013 

Why Resolutions:  Resolutions express our values and commitments to a democratic society with justice and equality.  They educate party members and others on vital issues and galvanize efforts to implement legislative and citizen initiatives.  Our resolutions identify problems or issues occurring at the local, county, state or national level that we wish to address.

Writing Resolutions:  A well written resolution should provide a logical foundation of facts and reasons for recommendations that follow.  This foundation should be couched in a series of “Whereas” clauses.  Do not include footnotes for the “Whereas” clauses.  If it is necessary to document a “Whereas” clause, incorporate a brief citation in the clause itself.  Say what the problem/issue is and why you think it should be addressed.

The first recommendation should begin with the words “Therefore be it resolved.”  If there are additional recommendations, they should begin with the words “And be it further resolved.”   The recommendation should say what should be done and who should do it.

Strive to write a brief and incisive resolution.   Lengthy resolutions tend to have less impact.  Aim for a typewritten resolution of no more than half a page and certainly no longer than a page in length. 

At the Precinct:  Although individual party members may submit resolutions directly to the Resolutions Committee, resolutions approved by a precinct have the advantage of educating and gaining support from more people.  Strive to write your resolution for approval at your precinct meeting.  The precinct may approve the resolution unchanged or revise the resolution at the meeting.   Alternatively, the precinct may approve the resolution in principle and delegate a committee to revise the resolution after the meeting.  Resolutions may also evolve from discussion at the precinct meeting.  They can be “cleaned up” after being passed and then sent to the Resolutions Committee.

Submission to the Resolutions Committee:  Individuals or precincts should submit resolutions as soon as they are ready but no later than midnight Friday, March 22 to Hank Elkins via email at HankElkins@gmail.com, with the word “Resolution” as the first word in the subject line.  Submit with your resolution the name of the precinct and the name, email address, and telephone number of the person to contact if the Resolutions Committee has any questions.  The Committee will organize, edit, and, where possible, consolidate resolutions. 

All-precinct meeting:  On Wednesday, April 3^rd an all-precinct meeting will consider resolutions at 7:00 pm in the Orange County Democratic Party Office, 209 Lloyd Street, Suite 310, Carrboro, NC.  This meeting advises the Resolutions Committee on the resolutions to present at the County Convention. Although it is possible at this time to present an additional resolution (bring 30 copies of each to the meeting), resolutions presented this late in the process tend to fare less well than resolutions submitted earlier. 

The County Convention is Saturday, April 13. Each Resolution can be considered individually at the request of any delegate; otherwise they are voted on in a bloc.  Individuals may present resolutions from the floor of the Convention, but a two-thirds vote for approval will be required for resolutions presented at that time.