[candidate-development] Tassinari letter - 2nd attempt

[Daniel Melnechuk]

Hi Dave,

While your letter was good, I have added the relevant sections of our  
pres delegate selection plan and MGL for Michelle to read which  
hopefully will make it easier for her to respond quickly. I also  
prefaced the questions with the point of view that we are asking her  
about following state law, which is the only thing that she can do  
technically.

I hope you find this helpful.

Peace,
Dan

-------------------------

Dear Ms. Tassinari:

We have received the results of the 2008 Green-Rainbow Presidential  
Primary. Three candidates in our primary who garnered 44% of the vote  
have since dropped out. Our presidential delegate selection plan that  
we filed with your office by the deadline of October 1st, 2007, does  
not explicitly cover this situation.

Our plan does state:

"If a candidate does not provide a list of their delegates, then the  
State Committee will select those delegate positions when it selects  
uncommitted delegates. The delegates so selected will be designated  
as delegates for the particular candidate."

There is similar language in our plan for incomplete lists of  
committed delegates from candidates. MGL Chapter 53, Section 70I,  
states:

"If there is a roll call vote for president at the national  
convention of a political party, all delegates and alternate  
delegates whose selection is subject by party rule to the approval of  
a presidential candidate shall vote on the first such roll call for  
that presidential candidate unless released by such candidate."

Here are our questions which we seek your guidance on from the point  
of following state laws:

1. Must committed delegates, selected by our own rules above for a  
candidate who has withdrawn from the race, still vote for that  
candidate on the first roll call? Or is a candidate’s public  
announcement of withdrawal from the race constitute releasing a  
candidate’s delegates to vote for someone else on the first ballot?

2. Since our delegate selection plan does not include handing this  
situation, we are contemplating making changes to the plan. Are we  
permitted to file a revised plan that changes the plan in any way  
after the primary election has been held, or must enactment of any  
changes wait until after the current presidential election cycle is  
over?

Thank you, in advance, for your help on these issues.  (If you to  
discuss this, or have questions regarding our questions, please  
contact Dave England, co-chair of the Candidate Development and Legal  
Committee, at 617-277-2827.

-------------------------------

On Mar 4, 2008, at 7:31 PM, DvEngland at aol.com wrote:

> Sorry folks,
>
> I've been away, and in the intervening years, you have developed a  
> system
> that rejects Word documents.  Here it is in our beloved rich-text   
> format.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL  
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> <Presidential primary allocation -  
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