1) You must be a registered Democrat as of December 31. Missed the deadline? Register now and attend as a volunteer or guest.
2) Find your caucus location on the Mass Dems site. No caucus listed? Contact your chair now to get the information on when your caucus is scheduled. If no chair is listed contact the MDP for information on your community at 617-776-2676.
3) Attend your caucus. You must arrive on time to vote or to be considered present for nomination purposes. There is no 15 minute grace period as there was in some past caucuses.
4) If you can't attend your caucus, but would like to be a delegate, contact your chair now to let him/her know of your interest. While those who are present have preference, if there are insufficient people present at the caucus who are interested in being delegate, then your name can be placed in nomination by a 2/3 vote.
5) If you don't get elected, you can apply for add-on status if you qualify. The categories are youth, disabled and minority.
6) If you are not a delegate, the Democratic Party always needs volunteers.
All the details are posted. You can read the rules beginning on page 14 of the Preliminary Call to Convention. There are forms for applying for add-on delegate status and other forms.
Many BMGers volunteered for the Obama campaign. Attending the convention and getting involved with the Democratic Party is a way to stay connected with the people with whom you volunteered. The bigger your network, the more effective you will be as a community or political organizer.
It is often not as competitive to become a delegate during an off year convention. I encourage people to first attend an issues convention, as a delegate or alternate, before attending a nominating convention.
There are occasionally complaints that people don't know about the deadlines and the caucuses until after they have past. The Democratic Party is committed to an open process and making information easily available to all Democrats. Towards that end, John Walsh has formed a Communications Sub-Committee and we are working to get this information out.
Although this is not an official Party effort, for regular updates on things Democratic here in Massachusetts, you can sign up for my weekly newsletter, the DDemDispatch by sending an e-mail to DDemDispatch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . |
