Representative democracy is a fundamental component of the American system of government. Undermining voters’ opportunity to choose their representatives distances voters from the policymakers who can shape daily life. When Democratic Party leaders unilaterally anoint candidates without the participation of voters, the whole system of lawmaking suffers. As such, New Kings Democrats support a reform of the Party’s system of filling vacancies to the greatest extent permitted by law.

New Kings Democrats propose a reform of the Kings County Democratic Party rules to include the following:

1. In the event a primary election is unfeasible, the nomination of the Democratic candidate for all vacant public offices in all political subdivisions that include any part of Kings County should require a vote of the County Committee.
2. If the public office is County-wide, the Party’s nominee should be chosen through a majority vote of the County Committee in whole, rather than the Executive Committee.
3. Notices for any special meeting of the County Committee to nominate a Democratic candidate for public office should be simple and must include the complete names and addresses of all potential nominees.
4. The County Committee’s endorsement by majority vote of the Democratic nominee for public office should bind the KCDCC to endorse the County Committee’s selected nominee.
5. Members newly appointed to fill vacancies in the County Committee are allowed to vote at any subsequent meetings for the remainder of their term. Standard rules for notice of meeting time, place, and agenda should apply.

To implement these goals, the following changes to Article 8, “Primaries, Conventions, Special Nominations and Organization of New Assembly Districts,” of the Rules of the Kings County Democratic County Committee should be made:

§5(a) is amended by striking “Executive” and inserting “County”:

(a) In the event that the vacancy occurs as to a public office to be voted for by the electors of the entire county, it shall be filled by the members of the Executive County Committee at a regular meeting or at a special meeting to be called for said purpose.

§5(c) is amended by inserting at the end “The County Committee Chairperson shall, with proper notice, hold a special meeting of committee members of the political subdivision in which the vacancy occurs and any nomination for that vacancy by the Chairperson shall be bound by the vote of those committee members.”:

(c) Vacancies occurring in nominations where candidates are to be voted for by the electors from more than one county, shall be filled in the manner prescribed by the State Committee. The County Committee Chairperson shall, with proper notice, hold a special meeting of County Committee members of the political subdivision in which the vacancy occurs. Any nomination for that vacancy by the Chairperson shall be bound by the vote of those committee members.