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Fairfax Dems: “What you need to know for the School Board Endorsement Meeting”

By
lowkell
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Just in case you were wondering, see below for an email that went out a few minutes ago from the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) entitled, “What you need to know for the School Board Endorsement Meeting.” Personally, I’d like to see nominations decided by primary wherever possible, and by “firehouse caucus” using “ranked choice voting” (e.g., “instant runoff voting”) where it isn’t possible, for whatever reason. I’d almost never (ever?) use the party-only method of nomination, and certainly not party-only without ranked-choice voting. Finally, I’d make this process as easy-to-understand and easy-to-participate-in as possible. With that, here’s this morning’s FCDC email on their endorsement process for School Board. For a list of Fairfax County School Board Democratic candidates, see here and head down towards the “Local Elections – School Board” section.

Hi folks,
There’s a lot of interest in the School Board endorsement.  We want to ensure that everyone can be informed about the process and guarantee their ability to participate.
First of all: this email is going out to current members, as well as members about to be voted in and people who applied but didn’t follow all the steps to complete their membership.  You must confirm that your membership application is complete before March 22nd if you want to vote in the District and At-Large School Board endorsement meetings. 
Recent applicants, be advised that the steps to become a member are as follows:
  • Complete application which includes the membership pledge (either on the paper application form or by applying for membership online yourself)
  • Pay membership dues or submit a statement of inability to pay those dues (informally known as the waiver)
  • Make contact with the Committee confirming your intention to become a member

If you are unsure about your membership status, please respond to this message, or contact FCDC Headquarters at (703) 573-6811 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, or contact your District Chair:

braddock@fairfaxdemocrats.org huntermill@fairfaxdemocrats.org dranesville@fairfaxdemocrats.org
lee@fairfaxdemocrats.org mason@fairfaxdemocrats.org mtvernon@fairfaxdemocrats.org
providence@fairfaxdemocrats.org springfield@fairfaxdemocrats.org sully@fairfaxdemocrats.org
Now, on to the School Board endorsement process:

The members of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee will meet this year to endorse candidates for the following positions:
School Board At-Large (3 candidates)
District School Board Member (9 candidates)
Soil & Water Conservation District Director (3 candidates)

The vote to endorse candidates will be open only to members of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee who are elected by March 26, 2019.

If you’d like to participate in the endorsement, either as a candidate or as a member, please read this post carefully.

Key dates:

  • March 22nd at 5:00pm: Deadline to join the Fairfax Democrats in time to be eligible to vote in the countywide or district endorsement meetings
    • Includes: applying for membership, paying the dues or requesting a waiver, and making contact with the Committee to confirm
  • March 26th at 7:30pm: General Meeting of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, Lake Braddock Secondary School.  New members who duly applied by March 22nd will be voted on, and the rules & procedures document for the countywide endorsement meeting will be finalized.
  • April and May: Supervisor District Democratic Committees to hold endorsement meetings for local School Board Member.  Check the Calendar for your district’s meeting.
  • May 18th: In-person absentee voting for the At-Large candidate endorsements, to be held at FCDC Headquarters
  • May 21st at 7:30pm: FCDC Endorsement Meeting for School Board At-Large and Soil & Water Conservation District Director, to be held at Lake Braddock Secondary School.  Open only to those who became members by March 26th, 2019.  At this meeting, the committee will also ratify the endorsement votes of the district Democratic Committees.

Important links:

At the March 26 Meeting:
We have some decisions to make about the endorsement process.  The rules are not yet finalized.  At issue is the voting process we choose for our At-Large races — whether we want to use traditional voting (“first past the post,” or top three vote-getters win) or ranked choice voting (also known as instant runoff voting).  We will be presented with both options at that meeting.  We will send you a detailed explanation soon which will include a side-by-side comparison of the two voting options.
Every member who is elected by March 26 will be able to make a choice in this process.  We will also be voting on our annual budget and other items.
Please contact the Fairfax Democrats HQ if you have any questions or concerns.
– Frank Anderson, Executive Director
Fairfax County Democratic Committee
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