Submit a Statement of Candidacy for County Office or State Central Committee here (self-nomination only). Deadline 5pm March 6, 2021

For information about the positions, click here: https://bit.ly/2NFjYmb

The Ward Meetings will be held via Zoom on February 27 at 3pm.  Registered electors will receive login information at the email used to sign up or join here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89253981088

DPLAC Conventions in the Time of COVID 

Every two years (in odd-numbered years), Democrats across the state gather in their counties to elect local leadership. Every Democrat registered in Los Alamos County as of January 27, 2021 can participate in their Ward meeting to elect Ward Chair and Ward Vice Chair, as well as people to represent them on the County Central Committee (CCC). Then, the CCC meets to elect the county party Chair and Vice-Chair and representatives to the State Central Committee (SCC). 

Only members of the CCC may vote on the county leadership and SCC positions, but anyone registered as a Dem in Los Alamos County as of January 27, 2021 may nominate themselves. If you want to know more about the elected positions of Ward Chair and Vice Chair, CCC, County Chair and Vice Chair, and SCC, click here (opens a new page). 

Normally we do this at Fuller Lodge, but due to COVID, everything must happen virtually, so there are a lot of changes as we move to a ballot-only process to elect representatives. We’re providing a lot of information to keep the process as transparent and accessible as possible, but we recognize that not everyone wants to wade through all the details, so it is divided into sections below. 

Official convention call here.

What's next after the Ward elections?

Statement of Candidacy for County Chair, County Vice Chair, and 5 State Central Committee representatives will be accepted until 5pm March 6, 2021; use this link to submit your Statement of Candidacy: https://forms.gle/2oYsbrsZ5MLEXm7q7.   

CCC members will receive a list of nominees and statements.

March 23 8am: CCC members will receive ballots to vote on County Chair, Vice Chair, and SCC.

March 25 5pm: voting closes.

March 27 2 pm: Zoom meeting to announce results or process Appendix A for SCC.  Login will be provided.

What to do to participate in your Ward elections: 

1. First, fill out this Google Form with your name, address, and contact info between January 30 and February 12 to register for your Ward meeting. [Link active on January 30, 2021]

https://forms.gle/rppfD9GwQBG7q76i6 

2. You may nominate yourself or someone else to serve as Ward Chair, Ward Vice Chair, or as a member of the County Central Committee using this form [link active on January 30, 2021]: 

https://forms.gle/sz8E4Ww77ZjyDvPK7 

3. Within a few days, you’ll receive a unique identifying number via email or a request for more information to validate your registration.

4. On February 24, you’ll receive a ballot as a separate Google Form at the email you used to register. You must complete it by 5pm on February 26. You will enter the unique identifying number—not your name—to cast your vote for Ward representation.

5. If your Ward’s election is contested (there are more nominees than positions), you will receive a link to a Zoom meeting where the ballots will be counted. Finally, you’ll receive an email notifying you of the results of the election for Ward leadership and representation. Congratulations, you have participated in the democratic process! 

Please contact [email protected] with any questions or difficulties; this is all new, and we’re here to help! 

What happens after the Ward meeting? 

After the Ward election, the newly-elected County Central Committee will vote on County Chair, County Vice Chair, and State Central Committee members. Click here to submit a Statement of Candidacy for those positions: https://forms.gle/2oYsbrsZ5MLEXm7q7

Why we’re doing things this way: 

If you’ve ever attended the in-person convention, you may recall that you check in at a table where someone verifies your party registration and Ward and gives you a slip of paper to use to vote. That is the credentialing process; it’s how we make sure only people eligible to vote in their Ward elect their representatives. 

The slip of paper you use to vote at the Ward meeting does not have your name on it, but because you received it upon check in, we know there’s one valid vote connected to that ballot. The state party has confirmed that we cannot realistically reproduce that experience in a virtual election, so we must use a process that as much as possible separates registration (which requires identifying information) from voting (which must be validated but should have as little identifying information as possible). For that reason, we have two separate committees working on these two steps, which creates a more lengthy process. 

What’s going on behind the scenes: 

The first Google Form, which includes your name and address--the information you would provide when checking in at an in-person convention--will go to the credentials committee. That committee will confirm your voter registration and assign you a unique identifying number, which will be sent to you via email. 

After registration closes, one group will verify that people who have been nominated for the CCC have been nominated by someone in the correct Ward and, if not, arrange for someone from the correct Ward to make the nomination. They will also contact each nominee to confirm

that they accept the nomination so we can create ballots for each Ward. The credentials committee will send to the election committee a list of email addresses for people who registered in each Ward. The election committee will send everyone credentialed in that Ward an email with a link to the correct ballot. 

When you fill out your ballot, you will put in your unique identifying number instead of your name. The credentials committee will create a randomized (to the best of excel’s ability) list of the unique identifying numbers verified for each Ward and send it to the election committee. To count one eligible vote per person in the correct Ward, the election committee will validate votes using only the unique identifying number without knowing who cast each vote. If you complete the form twice with the same UIN, we will count only the ballot with the most recent timestamp. 

Why are we not using an encryption-based solution that fully anonymizes the votes?

Simply put: access. The most secure solutions are also the hardest to implement and would make it difficult for non-tech savvy Democrats in Los Alamos County to access and use our voting process. To conduct these elections virtually, we cannot avoid using web-based solutions. In accordance with guidance from the state party, we are limiting those solutions to the most straightforward, commonly used tools possible while still maintaining a gap between verifying credentials (which requires identifying information) and voting (which should have as little identifying information as possible).

DPLAC Virtual Ward Meetings, Elections, and County Convention

All Democrats registered in Los Alamos County as of January 27 are encouraged to register and participate in selecting our leadership. 

Convention registration from January 30 to February 12 is now closed.