Delegate Instructions

You, the delegates, are asked to make decisions and establish policy for the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians.  This is a challenge and a responsibility which you have accepted.

Every delegate should be seated in the appropriate chapter section before the opening session.  A chairperson from each local chapter delegation should be designated by the delegation to be responsible for filling the delegation’s voting slots and reporting to the Speaker.

A delegate may represent his/her constituents on the floor of the House by requesting the floor during the debate of issues and voting on all actions.  Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure shall govern the proceedings of the House of Delegates.

Every delegate should strive to attend the open meeting of the Reference Committee of the Whole because they will be considering actions of importance to his/her delegation at which he/she may wish to be heard.  Only by hearing all interested viewpoints and gathering as much information as possible, can the reference committee make an adequate recommendation.

HOUSE OF DELEGATES RULES

The Speaker and Vice Speaker shall decide questions of eligibility of delegates, take a written tally of delegates present, and certify the presence of a quorum.

For submission of late resolutions to the House of Delegates, the following rules shall apply:

Resolutions not submitted by the due date should be prepared in the official format, and a copy of the resolution must be given to the Speaker and Executive Vice President prior to the “Call to Order.”

The late resolution may then be proposed from the floor during “New Business.”  A two-third majority is required to accept a late resolution for consideration.

 After “New Business” is concluded, presentation of a resolution will require unanimous consent of the House of Delegates to be considered.

Resolutions not properly prepared may not be accepted by the Speaker and Vice Speaker.

The Speaker and Vice Speaker shall review the House of Delegates rules on an annual basis, decide if any changes need to be made, and present them for adoption by the House of Delegates.

TELLERS

The Speaker and Vice Speaker will appoint tellers from among the elected delegates and alternates.

The tellers will distribute any handouts presented at the meeting, distribute ballots, count all written ballots, report the tallies to the Speaker and count any standing votes at the request of the Speaker.

ANNUAL REPORT CONSENT CALENDAR

The Speaker and the Vice Speaker will review all the reports included in the manual.  They will separate items into the Annual Report Consent Calendar to be filed or for referral to the Reference Committee of the Whole.  When the House of Delegates approves the Annual Report Consent Calendar, those items will be filed for reference.  At the time of approval, delegates may request individual items be placed before the Reference Committee of the Whole.  The remaining items are ones that, in the opinion of the Speaker and Vice Speaker, should be considered as action items for the House of Delegates and, therefore referred to the Reference Committee of the Whole.

ELECTIONS

For election of officers at the House of Delegates, the following rules shall apply:

The Tellers shall conduct the balloting and count the ballots.

Votes may be cast only by written ballot.

A majority of the ballots cast shall be required to elect any nominee to any office.

If in any balloting, no nominee for an office receives a majority of the ballots cast for such an office, a new vote shall be taken with the name of the nominees who received the least number of votes in the prior balloting deleted from the list of nominees voted upon in the new balloting.  This process shall be repeated until a nominee receives a majority of the votes cast.

Announcing the result of any ballot, the announcement shall state only that a nominee
has been elected or that his or her name shall be dropped from the list of nominees.

The Leadership Development Committee will present a slate of candidates with one or more nominations.

For the office of President-Elect, Vice President, Speaker of the House of Delegates, Vice Speaker of the House of Delegates, one delegate and one alternate delegate to the Congress of Delegates of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

In accordance with Article VI, Section 3 of the MAFP Bylaws, nominations shall also be accepted from the floor at the time of this annual meeting and nominations shall not be closed until the House reconvenes for its second session. 

The officers of this organization as elected by the House of Delegates shall take office immediately following their inauguration at the time of the annual meeting.