1. Delegates

   1. Voting delegates in the Legislative Council must be an active member of the Chapter which they will be voting for, designated by the Chapter, and carrying credentials signed by the President of the Chapter indicating that said person is authorized to be a voting delegate for that Chapter.
   2. Floor delegates are observers from the Brotherhood of each Chapter, who may participate in Convention business as specified in Section 4 of this policy.
   3. A proxy is a Brother acting on behalf of a Chapter, which is unable to have full representation at a National Convention.

      1. It shall be required that in the event of the absence of a voting delegate, the absentee voting delegate inform the National Secretary of their absence two (2) weeks in advance of the meeting.
      2. The absentee voting delegate shall follow the proxy procedure as stated in the National Constitution.
   4. Only the two (2) voting delegates from each Chapter may vote on matters of National concern.

      1. National concern shall be defined as questions of National Policy, election of National Officers, amendments to the National Constitution, the place of regular Conventions, the expenditure of National Funds, or any other matter which may in any other way affect the functioning of any Chapter or the National Organization.
      2. On matters not of National concern, if the presiding officer so designates, all Brothers may vote.
      3. At National Conventions, voting cards (paddles) shall be supplied to the voting delegates for voting on motions, etc.
      4. No National Officer, permanent member of the Board of Trustees or the presiding officer may be a voting delegate.

2. Presiding Officer

   1. The presiding officer of the Legislative Council shall be determined as follows:

      1. The National President shall preside if present.
      2. If the National President is absent, the National Vice President of Chapter Maintenance shall preside.
      3. If both the National President and National Vice President of Chapter Maintenance are absent, the National Vice President of Expansion shall preside.
      4. If the National President and both National Vice Presidents are absent, the National Secretary shall preside until the Legislative Council nominates and elects a floor delegate to preside.
   2. The presiding officer of the Legislative Council may vote only to break a tie.

3. Recording Officer

   1. The National Secretary shall take minute at all meetings of the Legislative Council.
   2. The Legislative Council, acting as the voting delegate to the National Convention or as its own entity between conventions, cannot transact business unless the National Secretary or alternate is present, except to reschedule the meeting by majority vote.

      1. The National Secretary must appoint an alternate in the event of impending absence from a meeting. If the National Secretary fails to appoint an alternate, the Chair of the Board of Trustees shall either serve as the alternate or appoint an alternate. The above mentioned alternate must be a Brother.
      2. The alternate will only serve to record the minutes, produce records which be requested, and if the situation requires, to act under Section 2.1.4 of this policy as temporary presiding officer.
   3. The National Secretary or alternate must have the National Records in possession at the meeting.

4. Business

   1. A quorum, as defined in the National Constitution, must exist in which any official business is conducted or legislation enacted.
   2. Order of business

      1. At each Legislative Council meeting, the following business shall be conducted:

         1. Roll call of voting delegates and determination of a quorum.
         2. Reading, correction, and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting.
         3. Reports of all National Officers.
         4. Reports of all National Committees.
         5. Reports of all Chapters
         6. Unfinished or old business.
         7. New business.
         8. Officer Elections
         9. Announcements.
         10. Close meeting.
         11. Inauguration Banquet.
         12. Adjournment by the presiding officer.
      2. The order of business shall be determined by the Legislative Council and the presiding officer. Barring any preference, the order of business specified in Section 4.2.1 shall be followed.
   3. Motions

      1. Any Brother present may place a motion before the body when said Brother is recognized by the presiding officer.
      2. Any Brother who is recognized by the presiding officer may second a motion.
      3. All motions shall be presented in writing and shall contain the name of the petitioning Brother.
   4. National Convention Location

      1. Chapters shall be offered to host Convention in the order of the Greek Alphabet rotation, with the Alumni Chapter being offered to host after the last active Chapter. The Chapter shall have thirty (30) days to respond to the National Secretary, in writing.
      2. Confirmation of the host Chapter of the National Convention shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the Legislative Council at the previous Convention, or by Alternative Technology Ballot.
      3. The host Chapter shall decide whether Members-in-Training may attend Convention meetings, and the decision must be announced at least sixty (60) days prior to Convention. Meeting chairpersons shall have final authority over whether Members-in-Training may attend that specific meeting.
      4. The host Chapter shall submit a tentative date and location in writing to the National Secretary no later than September 30 of the calendar year prior, and shall submit the final date and location in writing to the National Secretary no later than December 15 of the calendar year prior.
   5. Officer Elections

      1. Officer Elections may only take place at a National Convention or a properly called emergency Convention, with a quorum of the National Convention present.
      2. For officer elections, discussion shall be limited to a speech of no longer than five (5) minute from each candidate, with no opposing candidates present, followed by a question and answer session. Then there will be three (3) minutes of pro statements, six (6) minutes of con statements, and three (3) final minutes of pro statements, with no candidates present during these pro-con statements. The duration of the question and answer session will be a uniform ten (10) minutes for each candidate of every office.

         1. The question and answer session and pro-con statements will be governed by the definitions and procedures outlined in Appendix A.
      3. Candidates for National Offices must furnish resumes to all Chapters, National Officers and permanent members of the Board of Trustees at least fifteen (15) days prior to National Convention.

         1. The host Chapter shall provide printed copies of resumes submitted by the above deadline to each Brother attending elections.
         2. Candidates who submit materials during the submission period before convention will be eligible to be nominated for an office.
      4. A candidate must receive a majority of total possible votes to win an election.

         1. If there are three (3) or more candidates for a position and no candidates receives a majority of total votes, then the candidate who received the fewest votes will be dropped from the ballot and the vote will be re-run. This process will continue until there are only two (2) candidates remaining on the ballot.
      5. The Legislative Council shall deviate from Robert’s Rules by concealing the vote tally for Officer Elections; only the winner’s name will be announced.
      6. The host Chapter shall provide a printed copy of the “Candidates’ Bill of Rights”, located in Appendix B, to each Brother attending elections.
   6. Order

      1. The presiding officer shall appoint a Parliamentarian at each meeting.
      2. The basis of parliamentary law shall be Robert’s Rule of Order.
      3. Robert’s Rule of Order may be suspended by a vote of two-thirds (⅔) of the Legislative Council. Upon suspension of Robert’s Rules of Order, final parliamentary authority shall lie with the Legislative Council, under the guidance of the presiding officer.
      4. The National Constitution may not be suspended.

5. Policy

   1. This policy shall be revised as necessary by the National Convention, and approved by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the Legislative Council.

1. Definitions

   1. NON-GERMANE STATEMENTS/QUESTIONS: Any statement or question that is ruled duplicate, rambling, “funny but unhelpful”, and/or extraneous.
   2. INAPPROPRIATE STATEMENTS/QUESTIONS: Any statement or question that is ruled inflammatory, malicious, inaccurate, and/or containing excessive rebuttals.
   3. CHAIR: Presiding Officer of the Legislative Council or Convention.

2. Question And Answer Sessions. The Chair shall be assertive in keeping order on the floor during question and answer sessions in the hope that a single strong rebuke of an out-of-order question, if necessary, will discourage subsequent similar questions. As such the Chair shall:

   1. Remind the Brotherhood to address and treat all candidates with respect.
   2. Warn the Brotherhood that although legitimate and carefully-phrased “tough” (negative) questions will be allowed, inappropriate questions will be swiftly ruled out of order.
   3. Advise candidates that they are free not to answer any question that they are uncomfortable answering.
   4. Repeat the above reminders before each candidate’s Q&A session.
   5. Quickly rule inappropriate and non-germane questions out of order, interrupting if necessary.
   6. At their discretion, allow a speaker ruled out of order either to rephrase their question or to rescind the question.
   7. Exercise power of censure to refuse recognition to any Brother upon a second inappropriate question or excessive non-germane questions; and if necessary, exercise the right to eject a Brother from election proceedings for flagrant violations of decorum and/or order.
   8. Have the power to make factual corrections without counting against time limits, reducing the need for floor speakers to include corrections as part of their questions or answers.

3. Pro-Con Statements. The Chair shall be assertive in keeping order on the floor during pro-con statements in the hope that a single strong rebuke of an out-of-order statement, if necessary, will discourage subsequent similar statements. As such the Chair shall:

   1. Remind the Brotherhood to address and treat all candidates with respect.
   2. Quickly rule inappropriate and non-germane statements out of order, interrupting if necessary.
   3. Exercise power of censure to refuse recognition to any Brother upon a second inappropriate statement or excessive non-germane statements; and if necessary, exercise the right to eject a Brother from election proceedings for flagrant violations of decorum and/or order.
   4. Have the power to make factual corrections without counting against time limits, reducing the need for floor speakers to include corrections as part of their statements.

1. Right to NOT answer a question.
2. Right to be asked appropriate questions (e.g., relevant to the position, relating to past fraternity work).
3. Right to be treated with respect.¹⁾
4. Right to run for any office they see fit.
5. Right to solicit information from past officers and other Brothers.
6. Right to have a pro-con session.
7. Right to a vote.²⁾

1. Right to know a candidate's background in the fraternity and qualifications for office.
2. Right to know about a candidate's future plans for the time the Brother will be in office.
3. Right to ask questions of the candidate prior to the election.

Revised March 17th, 2018
Rob Smith, National Secretary