Adopted March 11, 1985
Last amended April 12, 2008
ARTICLE I – NAME
This organization shall be known as the Maine Republican Party and shall be the official statewide organization for the Republicans of the State of Maine. The Maine Republican Party shall be governed by the duly elected members of the Maine Republican State Committee.
ARTICLE II – PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
The Republican State Committee shall lead and support the Maine Republican Party, shall cooperate with the Republican National Committee in promoting the principles and ideals of the Republican Party and shall maintain close liaisons with the Republican leadership and members of the Maine Legislature. It shall supply direction and leadership for the performance of organizational activities, working through and with the two Republican Congressional District Committees, the Republican County, City and Town Committees. In furthering the programs of the Maine Republican Party, the Republican State Committee shall work closely with the Maine Federation of Republican Women, the Maine Federation of Young Republicans, Maine College Republicans, the Teen Age Republican Caucus and with such other groups as may be established and organized from time to time.
ARTICLE III - CANDIDATE RECRUITMENT
This organization shall assist in the recruitment of Republican candidates for public office. Each candidate recruited must have the ability to fulfill the duties of the office sought and have an earnest desire to be elected.
ARTICLE IV – MEMBERSHIP
1. County Representatives
A. Number – The membership of the Maine Republican State Committee shall, in part, consist of one (1) Committeeman and one (1) Committeewoman for each county, plus one additional committee member for every 10,000 Republican enrolled voters, or portion thereof, in excess of the first 10,000 according to the official figures available from the Office of the Maine Secretary of State.
B. Election – These members shall be nominated by their County Caucuses at the biennial State Convention, and shall be elected by the State Committee.
C. Term – Membership on the State Committee is not limited to any length of service.
D. Attendance – If any member fails to attend, in person or by proxy, three meetings in a twelve month period, beginning with the first meeting held after the Republican State Convention, the Secretary shall inform the County Committee or other proper organization which the member represents. Said organization may, according to its own Bylaws or procedures, declare the member’s position to be vacant and nominate a successor. Upon receipt of a declaration of vacancy, the State Committee may accept it and proceed to act upon the nomination of the successor.
E. Vacancies – A vacancy occurring for any reason shall be filled by vote of the remaining members of the State Committee. However, prior to filling any vacancy the Secretary of the State Committee shall notify the proper sponsoring organization that a vacancy has occurred. The sponsoring organization shall be advised of the proposed meeting date when the vacancy will be considered for resolution by a nomination from the organization. The State Committee is not bound by the organization’s nomination since the law provides that the State Committee must fill a vacancy in its own membership.
F. Duties – The members of the Maine Republican State Committee shall hold the offices of the highest rank and responsibility of the Republican organization in their respective Counties. They shall supply assistance, encouragement to and liaison with the County organization in the County of their residence; they shall be responsible for the transmitting of suggestions and advice from the state level, helping to insure the continuity of purpose and interest in those matters of the State Committee action that require County, City and Town Committee support and implementation. State Committee members should attend all meetings of their County Committee. They are responsible for carrying out the purpose and objectives as expressed in ARTICLE I and ARTICLE II, and as may be adopted in the future.
2. Republican National Committeeman and Committeewoman
These persons shall be considered elected and voting members of the State Committee upon their election at the quadrennial Republican National Convention. Vacancies shall be filled according to the Bylaws of the Republican National Committee.
3. County Committee Chairs
Each County Committee Chair shall automatically be a voting member of the State Committee.
4. Representatives of Affiliated State Republican Organizations
Key members of affiliate State Republican Organizations, who are also voting members of the State Republican Committee shall include, the President of the Maine Federation of Republican Women, the Chair of the Maine Federation of Young Republicans and the Chair of the Maine College Republicans. If the Chair of the Teen Age Republican Caucus is a voting, enrolled Maine Republican in Maine, that chair will also be a voting member of the State Committee. Vacancies shall be filled according to the bylaws of their respective organization.
5. Other Members
A. The Maine State Senate and Maine House of Representatives shall each elect a person from their Caucus to serve as a voting member of the State Committee, elected at the same time as Party Leadership elections take place. Vacancies shall be filled by the ranking Republican officer of the House or Senate, as the case may be.
B. The Republican Governor and each Republican Congressman and U.S. Senator elected in Maine shall appoint a member to the State Committee who shall serve contemporaneously with the term of the appointer.
C. The Chair of the Maine Republican Party Finance Committee shall be a member of the State Committee.
D. Officers chosen from outside the membership of the State Committee shall become voting members upon their election. In the event an existing State Committee member is elected to an officer’s position, that person shall cease to represent the body from which elected, and that seat shall be declared vacant.
E. The Legal Counselor shall be a non-voting member.
F. The State Chair may appoint up to twelve (12) advisory members of the State Committee who, when confirmed by the State Committee, shall be non-voting members.
G. The Chair of the Teen Age Republican Caucus, if not qualified as an enrolled Maine voter, shall be a non-voting member of the State Committee.
ARTICLE V – OFFICERS
1. Elected
A. The Maine Republican State Committee shall choose, by ballot, a State Chair, a Vice Chair, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and such other officers as the Committee may from time to time deem necessary. The Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and other officers (if any) shall be elected at the regular meeting in January of each post election year for a two-year term commencing February 1, or until a successor is elected; these four officers may be chosen regardless of gender and need not be current members of the State Committee.
B. No announced candidate for Governor, the United States Senate, or United States House of Representatives shall serve as an officer of the State Committee.
C. No officer or employee of the State Committee shall be a paid lobbyist.
2. Appointed
The Chair shall appoint the following with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, which appointees shall serve during the term of and at the pleasure of said Chair.
A. The Chair of the Maine Republican Party Finance Committee, with voting rights.
B. The Legal Counselor, without voting rights.
4. Elections for Vacancies
A. Elections for State Committee vacancies, in any officer positions, may be held at a Regular or Special meeting of the Committee so long as the pending election(s) are listed in writing in the call to the meeting.
B. Nominating speeches, given on behalf of any candidate, shall not exceed three (3) minutes, and candidates seeking office shall be allotted a six (6) minute presentation, with a limited question/answer time slot. Voting for each individual position shall be by secret ballot. Two members of the Executive Committee, not running as a candidate for the specific position being decided, shall be chosen as election clerks to count the ballots and announce the results to the full. Committee.
C. Elections to fill multiple vacancies (if necessary) shall be held in the sequence: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and other officer(s).
5. Salaries
A. The Treasurer and State Chair may be paid such salary as the Executive Committee approves, and shall be the only officers of the State Committee with salary. The Legal Counselor may also receive such compensation as the Executive Committee approves.
B. The Executive Director shall be hired by the State Chair, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee.
C. The Executive Director shall hire all other paid personnel with the prior advice and consent of the Chair and the Executive Committee. They shall be compensated based on the budget adopted by the State Committee.
D. All officers, both elected and appointed, shall be allowed reimbursement for travel expenses to be approved by the procedures set forth in ARTICLE VI.
E. Those members appointed to the Executive Committee by the Chair shall not have a vote with respect to the salary for the Chair.
ARTICLE VI – PAYMENT OF BILLS AND BONDS
All bills and expenses incurred, and for salaries due, should be approved by the State Chair or his designee. They shall then be forwarded to the Treasurer of the State Committee for payment. The State Chair may require such additional approvals, prior to payment, as may be deemed appropriate.
All full-time paid personnel plus the State Chair and the Treasurer of the State Committee shall be bonded for an amount to be determined by the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE VII – MEETINGS
1. Calling
A. Regular – The Chair of the State Committee shall call at least five (5) regular meetings during an off election year and at least six (6) regular meetings during an election year. Notice of a regular meeting to the committee membership shall be not less than fourteen (14) days, and more if practical.
B. Special – A special meeting of the State Committee may be held at any time upon the call of the Chair or in the Chair’s absence, by the Vice Chair, with notice of at least ten (10) days. Such a meeting may also be called upon the written petition and signatures of seventeen (17) members of the State Committee representing no less than six (6) counties, said petition to be delivered to the Chair. It shall be the duty of the Chair to issue a call for meeting within ten (10) days of the receipt of said petition, the meeting date to be not later than thirty (30) days and not earlier than five (5) days from the issuance of call, and to be held at such hour and place as the call shall specify. If the Chair fails to call such a meeting within thirty (30) days after the filing of the petition the Vice Chair shall call the meeting. The petition must contain the specific purpose for calling the meeting. The call, including the purpose, must be sent to all State Committee members prior to the meeting.
C. The Chair of the State Committee shall also have the authority to cancel or postpone State Committee meetings.
2. Conduct
A. All meetings of the Maine Republican State Committee and all meetings of its duly designated sub-committees shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised.
B. All State Committee Meetings shall be open to all enrolled Republicans. Enrolled Republican non-members, at the discretion of the chair, may take part in the discussion but shall have no vote.
3. Quorum
A majority of the qualified voting members of the State Committee shall constitute a quorum.
4. Proxies
A. Each member of the State Committee shall be entitled, unless otherwise indicated in these Bylaws, to one vote on each question in person or if represented by proxy duly appointed in writing by him.
B. A proxy voter acting for a member of the State Committee shall be an enrolled resident of the same county as the member being represented, and not a current member of the State Committee. An advisor to the Chair may also act as a proxy for a State Committee member.
ARTICLE VIII – COMMITTEES
1. Executive Committee
A. Membership – The Committee shall consist of not less than six (6) State Committee members with no more than two (2) members from any one county in addition to two (2) county chairs each representing one of Maine’s two congressional districts, all appointed by the State Chair.
B. Chairman – The Chair of the State Committee shall serve as Chair of the Executive Committee.
C. Duties – The Committees shall advise the State Chair and carry out the other duties set forth in these Bylaws.
D. Sub-Committees – Sub-Committees of this committee may be designated as needed.
E. Meetings – The Executive Committee shall meet at least six (6) times during a year and at such other times as called by the State Chair.
F. Special Appointments – The Chair may, with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee, appoint individuals to advisory or special positions as deemed both necessary and in the best interest of the Republican State Committee.
G. All officers of the Maine Republican Party and the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman shall be members of the Executive Committee.
2. Maine Republican Party Finance Committee
A. Membership – The Maine Republican Party Finance Committee shall consist of the Finance Committee Chair, County Finance Chairs, any Vice Chairs and District Chairs as the State Finance Chair shall designate, and any other members appointed by the Finance Chair, all with the advice and consent of the Executive Committee. The members of the Finance Committee do not need to be State Committee members.
B. The Chair of the Budget Committee shall also be a voting member of the State Finance Committee.
C. The State Party Finance Committee shall be responsible for raising all funds necessary to finance the State Committee Budget.
3. Budget Committee
A. Membership – The Budget Committee shall consist of not less than six (6) State Committee members, plus the State Finance Chair and the Treasurer of the Republican State Committee, with no more than two members from any one county. The State Chair shall appoint the Budget Chair and members of the Committee.
B. Duties – The Budget Committee shall draft, with the advice and consent of the State Chair, a two-year budget to be submitted to the State Committee for approval at the February meeting, or no later than the March meeting, following the general election. All basic operating expenses shall continue to be paid until a new budget is approved.
4. Other Committees
A. Creation – The State Chair, with advice and consent of the Executive Committee, shall establish such other committees as deemed necessary.
B. Membership – Any committee so established shall have no more than two (2) members from any one county. Members shall be appointed by the State Chair from enrolled Republicans in the State of Maine. Other Republicans enrolled in Maine, who are not members of the State Committee, as well as members of the Executive, Finance and Budget Committees may be appointed, if they express an interest in such appointment.
C. County Chairmen – County Chairs may be appointed as additional members of committees of the State Committee, including the Executive, Finance and Budget Committees, if they express an interest in such appointment.
D. Sub-Committees – Any committee may designate sub-committees as deemed necessary.
5. Ex Officio Members
The State Chair, State Vice Chair, National Committeeman, National Committeewoman, and State Finance Chair shall be ex officio voting members of all committees and sub-committees.
ARTICLE IX – BYLAW AMENDMENTS
These bylaws may be amended at a duly called meeting of the Republican State Committee, with a quorum present, by a two-thirds majority of the voting members present; provided that the pending action was clearly stated in the call of the meeting at which action on the amendment(s) was planned to be taken; and provided that approved amendment(s) be forwarded within five (5) days to those members not in attendance at the meeting.