HOW TO BE A DELEGATE TO THE 2012 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

Texas will send 288 delegates and 22 alternates to the Democratic National Convention in 2012. These Texans will help choose the Democratic nominees for President and Vice President, and they will also express opinions on key national issues. We encourage you to participate and to run for national delegate. What follows is, in general terms, an explanation of how to be a delegate to the National Convention. If you want more information, read the Texas Democratic Party National Delegate Selection Plan for 2012 and the Delegate Selection Plan Summary. Both are available on the Texas Democratic Party website, www.txdemocrats.org. FILING REQUIREMENTS To become a delegate to the National Convention you must: 1. Sign this Oath of Affiliation. By signing this document, I hereby affiliate myself with the Texas Democratic party. I understand that by signing this document, I become ineligible to vote in a primary election or participate in a convention of another party, including a party not holding a primary election, during the voting year in which this primary election is held. I further swear/affirm that I will support the nominee for President. 2. File a Statement of Candidacy with the State Chair no earlier than April 16 and no later than May 15, 2012. Filing forms will be available from the Texas Democratic Party by March 1, 2012. You may file for any and all of the delegate categories you are eligible for; and 3. Be elected by the State Convention in Houston June 8-9, 2012. If you participate in all stages of the convention process and campaign among delegates to the State Convention, you will have a better chance to become a delegate. CONVENTION SYSTEM Texas Democratic Party will have a two-level convention system in 2012: Level 1. County Conventions (or Senatorial District Conventions in urban areas); Level 2. State Convention. Those who attend their County/Senatorial Convention will elect delegates to the State Convention. Those who attend the State Convention will elect delegates to the National Convention. more than one or parts of more than one senate district will hold Senatorial District Conventions. . Each convention will have a Credentials, Resolutions, Rules, and Nominations Committee. It is permissible for the committee members to be appointed in advance of the convention. The first order of business will be for all participants to sign in and indicate their presidential preference or uncommitted status. The sign in may take place before or after the convention is called to order. Each sign in at the convention will count proportionately towards the percentage of delegates to the State Convention the participants preference shall be allotted. Each sign in will also count as a single vote in the participants senate district of residence. These single votes shall be tallied with all the other votes in the senate district to determine the percentage of the senate districts District Level Delegates to the Democratic National Convention the participants preference shall be allotted. The County Convention will be called to order by the County/Senate District Chair or, should they not be available, any qualified Democrat. The convention delegates will first elect a Permanent Convention Chair and Secretary to run the convention. The Chair will announce the results of the sign in. Delegates in each precinct, or sometimes a group of precincts, gather together to elect delegates and alternates to the State Convention. Within the group, the delegates and alternates are elected at one time, but you cast only one vote. The highest vote-getters are the delegates and the next highest are the alternates. For example, suppose your precinct gets to elect one delegate and one alternate to the State Convention. Only one election is held and you get to cast only one vote. Thus if 10 supporters of Barack Obama are present and all 10 vote for one delegate to the State Convention while 8 supporters of Other Candidate are present and all 8 vote for another delegate, then the Barack Obama representative will be the delegate and the Other Candidate representative will be the alternate. The results of all the elections within the precincts are given to the Nominations Committee. This committee then distributes the at-large delegates among each of the presidential candidates so that the countys delegation reflects each candidates fair share of the convention. For instance, if supporters of Barack Obama made up 50% of your convention, the Nominations Committee would work to see that 50% of the delegates to the State Convention from your county would be his supporters. However, a candidate who wins less than 15% of the convention doesnt have to be given any at-large delegates. TDP Rules Article IV A. 10 (a,b) Balancing Delegations (a) In selecting Delegates and Alternates at all levels, the Nominations Committee and the Convention itself

COUNTY/SENATORIAL CONVENTIONS Any qualified voter may attend your County Convention on Saturday, April 21, 2012. Counties totally contained in one Senate District will hold county conventions. Counties having

shall make every effort to select persons so that the delegation as a whole shall reasonably reflect the presidential preferences (in presidential years) and the proportion of women, young people, and minorities present in the district or the state. (b) At least one-third of the Delegates and one-third of the Alternates of any delegation elected at any level shall be of the sex opposite of that of the rest of the delegation.

between men and women. The number of delegates awarded each candidate is based on the results of the Presidential sign- in in that district. However, any candidate who does not win 15% of the sign-in in that district will not get any senatorial district delegates.

UNPLEDGED PARTY AND ELECTED OFFICIAL DELEGATES On Saturday morning, June 9, the Nominations Committee will meet to first nominate unpledged delegates. These are set by national party rules as: 1. Members of the Democratic National Committee from Texas; 2. The former Speaker of the United State House of Representatives and the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee; and 3. All Democratic Members of the United States House. These delegates will be immediately ratified by the State Convention. PLEDGED PARTY AND ELECTED OFFICIAL DELEGATES Pledged Party and Elected official candidates will have one hour after the Senate District caucuses adjourn to file with the Convention Chair. PLEDGED AT-LARGE DELEGATES AND ALTERNATES After the convention votes on the pledged party and elected official delegates, the Nominations Committee will nominate at-large delegates and alternates. The at-large delegation is distributed among presidential candidates in the same way that the pledged party and elected official delegates are distributed. The entire at-large delegation must be used, if necessary, to make sure that the whole Texas delegation to the National Convention is equally divided between men and women. It will also be used to meet certain affirmative action goals.

STATE CONVENTION If you were elected a delegate at your County/Senatorial Convention, you may participate in the State Convention, held June 8-9, 2012, in Houston. Although the State Convention will officially come to order about 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 8, there will be issue caucuses during the day and Senate District Caucuses will meet from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Any Senate District Caucuses that do not finish their business will reconvene after the convention recesses for the evening. Each delegate will officially sign-in indicating his/her presidential preference or uncommitted status when the delegate picks up his/her credentials. The sign-ins will be counted statewide and the totals will be used by the Nominations Committee on Saturday to distribute the pledged party and elected official delegates and the at-large delegates among the presidential candidates. However, any candidate who wins less than 15% of the whole State Convention will not get any at-large delegates. The State Convention elects four types of delegates to the National Convention: 1. 172 pledged senatorial district delegates;

2. 28 unpledged party and elected official delegates; 3. 31 pledged party and elected official delegates; and 4. 57 at-large delegates and 22 alternates.

PLEDGED SENATORIAL DISTRICT DELEGATES At the Senatorial District Caucus, supporters of each candidate gather to elect their share of delegates and alternates to the National Convention. These must be equally divided .

NATIONAL CONVENTION If you are elected a delegate or alternate by the State Convention, you may participate in the National Convention in Charlotte September 36, 2012

SENATORIAL DISTRICT DELEGATES (Subject To Change)

DISTRICT DELEGATES DISTRICT DELEGATES DISTRICT DELEGATES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5 5 5 5 6 4 5 5 5 6

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

6 5 9 10 7 6 7 5 6 5

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

6 5 9 4 6 6 5 3 5 4 2