Contactless Caucuses will be held on Tuesday, February 1, 6:30-9pm.

 

Calling all DFLer’s in St Louis County Organizing Unit 3! 

 

Due to the peak in Omicron COVID numbers, the MN DFL has altered the plan for the February 1 precinct caucuses so that everyone can be safe. (See below* for the official DFL Emergency Declaration.)

 

St Louis County Organizing Unit 3 (SLC-OU3) is adopting the Contactless Precinct Caucus system. There will be no in-person or virtual meeting. This means that all those wishing to participate in their precinct caucus, instead of attending a meeting in person, will submit a non-attendee form. Every person who has submitted the non-attendee form can also submit resolutions. Non-attendee and resolution forms can be submitted in-person, electronically, or mailed. 

 

If uncontested in their precinct, all of those who indicate on the non-attendee form that they would like to be delegates will be selected as delegates. If a precinct has more people wanting to be delegates than there are available slots, a zoom meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 8 at 6:30 pm to draw lots to determine delegates and alternates with equal division. You will be sent an invitation to the zoom meeting if your delegate selection is contested.

 

All resolutions submitted will be forwarded to the resolutions committee for compilation and will then be submitted to the SLC-OU3 convention for consideration.

 

Precinct chairs and vice-chairs will be elected at the unit’s central committee meeting following redistricting.  

How to submit your non-attendee form and resolutions:

1. Go to the DFL caucus finder to find the name of your precinct. http://caucus.dfl.org/  

2. Find your caucus location on the list below. (The caucus locations on the DFL precinct finder are not yet updated). Some of the caucus locations are different than they were in 2020 so be sure to check this year’s location.

3. Find the forms at https://dfl.org/caucus/  Click on the download icon in the right upper corner of the form window. The icon doesn’t look the same on every computer but will usually have a down arrow overlapping a picture of a file or just a down arrow with a line under it. The forms are “fillable” so you can fill them in directly on your computer and save them in a file. 

4. Fill out each form completely. You’re in Congressional District 8 and Organizing Unit SLC-OU3. Type in your name where it says “signature.” This will constitute your official signature.

5. Send completed non-attendee and resolution forms as attachments to an email to: slcou3dfl@gmail.com. 

6. Forms can also be printed out and mailed to: Barbara Crow, 200 Mt. Royal Circle #3187, Duluth, MN 55803.

7. Forms can also be hand delivered to one of the designated caucus drop-off sites on February 1, 2022, from 6:30-9pm. Masks will be required at all caucus drop-off sites.

8. All forms must be received by 9pm on February 1, 2022.

 

Informational Zoom Meeting

We will have Zoom meetings on Saturday, January 22 at 2pm and Saturday, January 29 at 2pm to explain the process and answer any questions you have.

Here are the links to register:

January 22: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcu2orjkpHtHrcQ-PVZrZHL0whHKOZm8g

January 29: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tc-qqpzMrH9ZHLFvV75AHwPN9mIZYV9FZ 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

More Details

Please run for Precinct Chair or Vice-Chair

Chairs and vice-chairs will be crucial in 2022 to help our unit organize get-out-the-vote efforts. We need to re-elect Governor Walz, hold on to the MN House, and win back the MN Senate. We also need to re-elect our Secretary of State, Steve Simon and other DFL state leaders. MN must do its part to save our democracy!  Please check the box on the non-attendee form indicating whether you would like to run for precinct chair or vice-chair. Precinct chairs are delegates and Vice-chairs are alternates to the SLC-OU3’s Central Committee. The SLC-OU3 Central Committee is the body that conducts the business of the unit between conventions. The SLC-OU3 Executive Board conducts the unit’s business allowed by the state and unit constitutions between central committee meetings. Because we will not be electing precinct chairs and vice chairs at caucuses this year, we will need to convene our first central committee meeting as soon as possible after the conventions in order to do so. SLC-OU3 Central Committee will be meeting next in early June.

 

Please help us with our conventions by signing up for a pre-convention committee!

We need your help to organize and run our upcoming conventions. Please check the box “pre-convention committees” and indicate which committee you want to join. It’s OK to say you don’t know. We can contact you to determine which of our committees best suites your interests. You don’t have to be a delegate to be on a committee, in fact, we need some non-delegates on some of our committees to help with tasks while the convention is in session.

The committees include:

Nominations will interview candidates running for officer and state central committee positions in SLC-OU3 and nominate candidates at the SLC-OU3 Convention.

Credentialing will keep a list of the delegates and alternates, will register attendees at the convention, and make sure that the appropriate delegates and upgraded alternates are on the floor of the convention.

Constitution and Rules will review and recommend amendments to the unit’s constitution and will recommend rules for the convention.

Arrangements will organize the physical space at the convention. Accessibility, COVID restrictions, availability of food and beverages, and arrangements of tables for campaigns or other visiting organizations are just some of the considerations.

Resolutions will organize the resolutions from the precinct caucuses, create a ballot for consideration at the convention, and tabulate the votes and determine which resolutions will be forwarded to the State Convention.

Delegate and Alternate responsibilities

Delegates and alternates elected at their precinct caucuses will be invited to attend two conventions. *

St. Louis County Organizing Unit 3 (SLC-OU3) is in the portion of St. Louis County that is in the 3^rd MN senate district. At SLC-OU3’s convention, scheduled to be held in Hermantown on April 23, delegates will consider platform resolutions and elect delegates to the Congressional and State Conventions. We will also elect unit officers and conduct any other necessary business for the unit. If the COVID situation in April makes an in-person meeting too risky, we will hold the convention virtually.

The 3^rd Senate District unit will hold a virtual convention on May 14 to endorse candidates for the MN 3^rd senate district and its two MN house districts.

*Please note that because this is a redistricting year, some delegates who are currently in our district may end up being moved to another district after the new district lines are finalized. You will be notified about your conventions at that time.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at slcou3dfl@gmail.com or call Barb Crow, chair of SLC-OU3 directly at 218-349-9508.

 

 *State DFL Emergency Declaration: https://dflorg/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/SEC-Emergency-Declaration-Regarding-Precinct-Caucuses-Rev-000.pdf