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PREAMBLE
Article
I - Our Vision
Article II - Our
Mission
Article III - Definitions
Article IV
- The General
Membership
Article V - The Assembly of
Affiliates (AoA)
Article VI -
Board of
Directors (BoD)
Article VII -
Council of Arbitrators
Article VIII - Advisory
Board
Article IX - Communications Committee
Article X - Independents
Chapters
Article XI - Impeachment and Removal Procedures
Article XII - The
Questionnaire
Article XIII -
Terms of Coalition
Article XIV - Amendments
PREAMBLE
We, the People of the United States of
America, do hereby call for
all Patriots of America to set aside
minor and major differences of
opinion and work together for the
common good of our Nation. There
is no doubt in our minds that
the stewardship of these United States no
longer belongs to its
people, but rather to corruption. The problems
that we currently
face will only get worse if we do not stop them.
It is now that
we are calling together, with all of our strength,
voice and
might, all of those willing to stand with us and realize
what the
Founders of America once
dreamed.
Article I - Our
Vision:
1.1 We envision a US
Citizenry enjoying renewed greatness as a nation,
resulting from
our return to first principles as contained in our
Declaration of
Independence and in our written Constitution. A
United States
nation that has Restored Lawful Government,
Reestablished
Justice, Restored Domestic Tranquility, and that is
Providing for
the Common Defense, Promoting the General Welfare, and
Securing
Blessings of Liberty for Ourselves and our
Posterity.
Article II - Our
Mission:
2.1
The Mission of the We the People Coalition (hereafter referred
to
as WTPC) is to bring together the fragmented Independents,
groups
and Parties who stand in opposition to the two-party
system into a
Coalition working together for mutual benefit. We
believe that there
is room for more than two influential Parties
in politics in the USA,
and will work together to insure that all
our voices are heard. We
also aim to foster cooperation among
freedom-oriented, non-incumbent
("third") parties, Independents
and to motivate existing parties to
cooperate on any and all
issues that are identified as being of common
interest in each
party platform.
2.2 Our Goals:
A. To
replace incumbent Republicans and Democrats with 'third'
Party
and Independent Candidates who generally accept or agree
with our
Principles, as expressed on the WTPC web pages at
http://www.WeThePeopleCoalition.org/Principles.html . The
candidates
responses to the questions in the WTPC Candidate
Endorsement
Questionnaire, along with any general statements they
wish to
include, will determine where they stand on these
Principles.
Complete agreement with all the questions posed is
not realistic,
of course, but a 'weighted' evaluation by the
Board of Examiners will
rely heavily on the answers
submitted.
B. To motivate existing parties to cooperate on
any and all issues identified as being of common interest in each
party platform.
C. To reform election laws and neutralize
the current two-
party system in which a vote for either
Republicans or Democrats is
tantamount to a vote for the lesser
of two evils.
D. To promote Third Party Electoral Reform,
such as clean elections,
fair campaign laws, and fair ballot and
media access, so that
non-incumbent parties can more effectively
compete in elections;
to coordinate efforts between them to
promote non-competition and to
eliminate divisive issues from
their respective platforms, so that
all freedom-oriented party
platforms focus on the following core
scope: To return government
to its Constitutional limits resulting in
restoring liberty and
justice for all regardless of race, creed or
color.
2.3 Our plan:
We propose to screen local, state, and
national candidates who
apply for our endorsement on the basis of
their answers to a
Questionnaire developed by the WTPC.
Independent and alternative
party candidates and those whose
political views are consistent with
those of WTPC will receive
our endorsement. By combining individual
initiatives through the
collective might of a coalition united in purpose,
we can
generate together a wave of enthusiasm and support for this
endeavor that will soon sweep the country. We know that this
plan will
grow into something powerful, and hope to end the
stagnation that has gone on under the "two-party
system".
Article III - Definitions:
3.1 AoA: Association of Affiliates.
3.2 BoD: Board of
Directors.
3.3 CoA: Council of Arbitrators will be the "Supreme
Court" and have
the authority to settle disputes among member
parties.
3.4 AB: Advisory Board
3.5 Party: A "Party", as
used in this document, is
understood to mean
an organized group of individual American
citizens of voting age,
joined together politically under a
common Platform of issues (`planks'),
with stated
aims/goals/purposes/Principles, all in writing; they may or
may
not be recognized as a political Party by the State Secretary
of
State where they are organized, but if they claim to be such
(a political
Party), then for the purposes of this Coalition,
they are.
Article IV - The General
Membership
4.1 Who may become a
member:
Anyone who is not a Republican or a Democrat or who
does
not belong to a party that advocates the violent overthrow
of our
government may become a member of the
WTPC.
4.2 Who is a WTPC general member:
ALL
members of the WTPC, including the Assembly of Affiliates, Board of
Directors, Board of Arbitrators or any other officers who consider
themselves to be Independents or third party
members
4.3 How an Individual joins the WTPC:
A.
Via the WTPC Website
B. By joining the main WTPC Yahoo group
or
C. By joining a state WTPC Yahoo group or
D. By joining an
Independents Yahoo Groups or
E. By joining the We The People
Coalition EZBoard forums
F. By seding a letter or post card to
the WTPC mailing address.
4.4 How a political state or national party
joins the WTPC:
Any Party wishing to join the Coalition must
understand, agree to,
and sign the terms of Coalition. (See
Article XIII)
A. An email to the one or more of the following
email addresses would
suffice:
Secretary@WeThePeopleCoalition.org
Webmaster@WeThePeopleCoalition.org
WeThePeopleCoalition-owner@yahoogroups.com
B. By joining the group and posting to the list:
WeThePeopleCoalition@yahoogroups.com/group/WeThePeopleCoalition C. By sending a letter or post card to the WTPC mailing
address.
4.5 No new political party created after
November 24th 2005 may
become a member party of this coalition
(This is to prevent one
person/one web page Internet "parties"
Chairs from being added to the
WTPC Board of
Directors).
Article V - The Assembly of Affiliates
(AoA):
5.1 Who
is a member?:
A. All national party Chairs
B. All state party
Chairs and one delegate per state party Chair.
C. All
Independents Chapter Chairs and one delegate per
Independents
Chapter Chair (delegates are also the Chairs' nominees
to the
BoD).
D. One county party Chair and one delegate per state
party
until their state party joins the WTPC (delegates are also
the
Chairs' nominees to the
BoD).
5.2
Duties:
A. Promote the WTPC vision and seek out Candidates.
B.
Ratify any amendments to the WTPC charter and by-laws they are in
agreement with.
C. Monitor the BoD activities and ensure that the
BoD stays true to
the Mission and Vision of the WTPC.
D.
Develop strategies for the WTPC to achieve it's goals
E. Hold
Yearly Summits of the Coalition Affiliates and Partners.
F.
Report ideas and requests formally to the BoD.
G. Implement
Action Plans as delegated by the BoD.
5.3 Authority:
A.
The AoA is the voice of the member parties and independants.
B.
Is over the Board of Directors (as we the people are above
the
governement)
5.4 Limitations:
A. Only state party chairs
may work on the development of or
contribute to the WTPC
Endorsement Questionnaire.
B. AoA decisions must be made be a 80%
majority.
5.5 Term limits:
A. As long as they are chairs
of their parties or chapters.
Chairs may change their own
delegates at any time without notice,
but must do so in writing
to the BoD.
B. Independant Chapter Chairs will serve 2 year
terms. They may be
eligible again after a term passes, but cannot
serve consecutive
terms.
Article VI - Board of
Directors (BoD):
6.1 Membership:
A. 80%
consists of two members from each national party and
three
Independents.
B. 20% consists of members nominated and elected by
the general
membership whose state or party must not be a member
of the WTPC.
6.2 Method of BoD selection:
A. Method of
selecting from the state parties:
1. All party chairs will
make available to all other party chairs
within their national
party a list of nominees to the BoD
as well as the nominees'
qualifications, bio, resume (yet to be
determined info). (why
they are the best for the job)
The nominees may be from their own
state party or another state party
of the same national party or
both but must be from state parties who
are WTPC members unless
the national party is a WTPC member party then they may chose anyone
within the party.
The nominees may include the chairperson
him/her self, members of
his/her state party, members or chairs
of other state parties and/or
the national party
chair.
2. All state party Chairs vote for two members of all
the nominees.
He/she may only vote for one from his/her own state
party but may
vote for two from other states and even two from
the same state if
he/she/ chooses to. A chairperson may vote for
him/her self instead
of another nominee from his/her state but
must vote for one nominee
from another state OR vote for the
national party chair, IF the
national party chair wants to be on
the BoD
3. National party Chairs may also present a list of
nominees and
participate in the voting process if they are not
also state party
Chairs. They may may nominate whoever they
choose in their national
party or themselves and must vote for at
least one nominee from a
state in which he does not
reside.
4. The two nominees receiving the highest number of
votes shall be on
the BoD representing their respective national
parties.
5. State party chairs are free to consult with each
other and try
to find some unanamous consensus on which two
members to members should represent their national party on the WTPC
BoD (keeping in mind that these
two members should be the best activists
they have and are best suited for directing the
WTPC in it's mission and toward it's goals). If
consensus is not reached by the state party chairs then vote,
according to the method described above. Those two
state party candidates recieving the two highest
number of votes are elected to the BoD. The national
party Chairs also may present a list of nominees and vote if he/she
is not also a state party
chair.
6. The WTPC election process for BoD members
NOT elected by the general membership will begin
the Monday following the US Presidential elections
(every four years) in November
and be completed by the following monday.
7. The WTPC election process for BoD members
who ARE elected by the general membership will
begin as soon as it has been determined how many will be elected
by the general membership, which will be equal to
20% of the number elected by the state party Chairs
plus the two Independents.
A poll will be taken on the last Monday in
November of Presidential election years and run for
one week. Voters may vote for more than one nominee.
The nominees recieving the highest number of votes
equal to 20% of the BoD members elected by the
state party Chairs shall be on the WTPC Board of Directors. The days
and duration of the polls may be determined by the first
BoD and changed by Amendment. Nominees may be
presented immediately following the US Presidential
election. Any debating between nominees may also
begin immediately after the election. Voters may
vote for more than one nominee.
B. Method of selecting from among the state
Independents chapters:
1. All state Independents chapter
Chairs nominate two members
from the state Independents chapters
OR him/her self (the state
Independents chair) AND nominate one
member from one other state
Independents chapters OR the national
Independents chapter Chair (if
there is one) if he/she desires to
be on the BoD and another
Independent delegate from the Assembly
of Affiliates.
2. The two nominees receiving the two highest
number of
votes shall be on the BoD representing the
Independents.
(one other Independent, who is part of the 20%
elected by the general
membership will be the tie breaker since
there will always be an even
number of party members on the
BoD)
3. A national Independent chapter chair may participate
in the
nomination and election process same as a nationl party
chair
National Chairs of Independent chapters (If any) may also
present a
list of nominees and participate in the voting process
if they are
not also state Independent chapter Chairs. They may
nominate
whoever they choose among all independents or themselves
and must
vote for at least one nominee from a state in which he
does not reside.
C. Method of selecting the BoD from among
the general membership:
1. An equal number to 20% of those
elected to the Bod
consisting of state (or national) and
Independents chapters Chairs
shall be elected by the general
membership via the main WTPC Yahoo
group polls. Anyone
considering themselves to be a WTPC member may
nominate or vote
for anyone who is NOT a member of a Party that is a
member of the
AoA.
2. Any members from the general membership who would
desire to be on the BoD or are
nominated to be on the BoD, must meet the following
qualifications:
a. They must gather 12 signatures from the WTPC
general membership and present them before a certain deadline.
b. Must not belong
to a party that advocates the violent overthrow of our
government or that promotes racism. (Communists, neo-nazis,
KKK)
c. Independent nominees must be registered as
Independents
d. All other nominees must be registered to a party
that is not a
WTPC Member party.
3.After two weeks of
debating and hearing recommendations from other
members, a poll will be conducted and the
candidates receiving the highest number of votes,
up unto 20% of those elected to the BoD of the Parties
and Independents chapters. (the
BoD members from the parties and Independents obviously must be
elected at least a few days prior to this
poll)
4. The WTPC election process will begin the
Monday following the US Presidential elections (every four years)in November and be completed by
the end of November.
6.3 Duties:
A. Coordinating ALL WTPC
Activities, especially in regard to
finding candidates for WTPC
endorsement.
B. Recieve feedback and ideas from the AoA.
C.
Arranging "Round Table" meetings for state party leaders
D.
Working together with other organizations for election
related
reforms.
E. Create Action Plans to implement decisions, based on
feedback and
ideas from the AoA.
F. Delegate Action Plans to
the AoA for implementation.
G. Track and monitor Action Plan
implementation.
H. Select and oversee Newsletter Committee to
distribute a
Newsletter to members, and the general
public.
6.4 Authority:
A. The Bod is the supreme governing
body of the WTPC
B. Is under the authority of the Assembly of
Affiliates who may
by a 80% majority vote (of those who do vote)
remove any BoD member
if the BoD doesn't remove that member by
what ever method they decide.
C. BoD has the decision making
ability, and will be monitored by the AoA.
6.5
Limitations:
A. Must direct the WTPC in accordance with the
mission and goals
of the WTPC Charter.
B. Must Use the AoA as
the means of accomplishing the Action Plans
that the BoD
develops.
6.6 Term of Office:
Two years this first time
and 4 years thereafter starting November
2007, after the
presidential election and every following US
presidential
election on such date as the 1st WTPC BoD
shall
determine.
6.6.a. Term Limits:
1. Party Chairs will
term limits will be decided by the Parties themselves.
2.
Independants will serve 4 year terms, and may be eligible to serve
again after two years have
passed, if positions become available.
6.7
Meetings:
Meetings of the Board of Directors shall be
held at such places, and at such times as the Board may
determine. Anything regarding meetings will
be decided by the first BoD and entered into the charter by
amendment without need for ratification by the assembly but no
alterations may be made to the Charter by the first
BoD unless they are elected in 2007 and then any
amendments must be ratified by the Assembly of Affiliates
as prescribed in Article
XIV.
6.8 Resignation:
Any director may resign at any time by
giving written notice to the Board
of Directors. Any such resignation is
effective when the notice is delivered, unless the notice specifies a later effective
date.
6.9 Vacancies: In case of any vacancy
in the Board of Directors.
a. If the the member was elected by the
general membership then a
new election will be held to fill the
vacancy in the manner described
in the method of selecting
members via the polls in Article 6. 2.C
b. If the member was of a
party elected by the state party chairs,
then the state chairs of
that party, who are also WTPC member
parties, well decide, either
by consensus or by the method the state
parties use to vote for
the BoD as described in Article 6. 2. A
c. If the member was a
national party Chair, the same method would be
used as in b,
above.
d. A "Special Notice" would be sent out to ALL members
announcing the
news and the date of the poll and asking for
nominees'
e. A "Special Notice" would also be sent out to all
members notifying
them of any changes in the BoD
Membership.
Article VII - Council of
Arbitrators:
7.1 Membership: The Council of Arbitrators
will consist of ALL
national party Chairs who are WTPV
members
7.2 The Council will be be the "Supreme Court" of he WTPC
and have
the authority to hear and settle
disputes.
Article VIII - Advisory
Board:
8.1 Membership: composed of WTPC co-founders
and who they unanimously agree to add at any time.
8.2
Duties: Give advice when asked for or not.
8.3 Authority: None
(exept as members of another office)
8.4 Term limits:
None
8.5 An Advisor may be removed by unanimous
consent of the other Advisors.
Article IX - Communications
Committee:
9.1 To be created and and elected by the
Board of Directors
9.2 Communications assets - ownership and
management determined by the BoD.
a. Domain names
WeThePeopleCoalition.org ; WTPC.org
b. Website
http:www.WeThePeopleCoalition.org
c. Yahoo groups:
(1)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeThePeopleCoalition
(2) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeThePeopleCoalition_Business
(3) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeThePeopleCoalition_chitchat
(4) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeThePeopleCoalition_fullstate name (50 groups)
(5) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeThePeopleCoalition_DC
d. EZ forums http://p105.ezboard.com/bwethepeoplecoalition
e.
Newsletter - A newsletter committee will be selected by the
BOD.
f. Any Independent groups will be owned by whoever they
themselves decide.
Article X - Independents
Chapters:
10.1 Status: The State Chapters of Independents will have the
same
rights as a State affiliate of a Member Party. They will be
entitled to the same representation within the
WTPC.
Article XI - Impeachment
and Removal Procedures:
11.1 Impeachable Offences:
A.
Embezzlement
B. Inactivity
C. Actions contrary to the
Mission/Vision of the WTPC
D. Others to be determined by the BoD and added by
amendment
11.2. The CoA must serve as a court in any impeachment
procedings.
11.3. The AoA should vote about removal of a BoD
member after a hearing.
11.4 The BoD may also vote to remove a
member of the AoA, after a
hearing.
11.5 Both BoD and AoA must
vote after a hearing to remove CoA members
11.6 Hearing minutes
must be distributed to members of the
respective
branches.
Article XII - The
Questionnaire:
12.1 Method of constructing the questionnaire and method of
endorsing
candidates etc. per David Repko's plan as described on
the We the People Coalition website at http://wethepeoplecoalition.org/Questionnaire.html and is incorporated into this charter be
reference (The complete method of endorsing candidates via the
Questionnaire process is still under revision at the time this
charter is being presented for ratification by the WTPC General
Membership).
Article XIII - Terms of
Coalition:
13.1 Party chairs will create and submit to
the WTPC group
Moderators /Webmaster, ONE series of questions.
The number of
questions and their content are entirely the
prerogative of
their `creator'. The `creator' (or creators) MUST
be the State Party
Chair, and two named Alternates. It is
strongly suggested that the
questions be created from the Party's
published
aims/goals/mission/purposes, and in such a way that
they could,
theoretically, be used by Party officers to evaluate
a hypothetical
Candidate seeking the Party's
nomination/endorsement.
Once the list of State Party Questions is
received, and checked for
grammar, spelling, clarity of
understanding, and Netiquette-
acceptable, it will be posted in
the Files section of WTPC Yahoo
groups. At the NEXT stage, ALL
OTHER STATE Party Chairs will copy and paste that latest list of
Party questions to an e-mail; then, they
will simply delete
whichever questions they wish, for whatever
reasons they wish ---
or no reason at all. Only those Party
Chairs/Alternates
authorized to create their own `questions'
can `edit' the
questions lists of other Party Affiliates. Those lists
of
questions so edited will be separated into two `virtual'
piles:
"Approved" Questions "Tabled" Questions
Those Party Questions
that are "Approved" immediately become a part
of the current WTPC
Candidate Questionnaire, to be used to evaluate
Candidates
applying for Endorsement by the Coalition (not the
individual
State Parties), since it is reasonable to assume that if
none of
them were rejected by any current Party Affiliate, they
are
"Approved" for all future applicants.
"Tabled" questions will be
reviewed from time to time. They may be
edited by their original
`creators' for grammar, punctuation,
spelling, etc. They may be
re-worded to improve clarity of
expression, or to improve their
acceptance by ALL members of the
Board of Directors. If such
improvements/editing do NOT render
them "Approved", they will be
returned to the "Tabled" pile for
whatever interval or number of
rejections the BoD decides is a fair
consideration. (They may
stay "tabled" forever; they may be permanently
rejected after a third or
fourth review, whatever the BoD
decides.)
Article XIV - Amendments:
1.
Amendments to this charter must be favored by a 80% vote
of the
Board of Directors, and ratified by a 65% majority consent of
the
Assembly of Affiliates OF THOSE WHO DO VOTE.
2.
Amendments may not alter or supplant the stated mission
and
vision of this Charter nor the purpose, goals and description
of the
We The People
Coalition.
End
"Mighty oaks from little acorns
grow"
This Charter was unanamously ratified by the
900 plus general membership of the WTPC Yahoo group at 12:01 A.M.
Eastern Standard Time on January 9, 2006
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