The Socialist Party of Michigan’s present Bylaws were adopted unanimously on June 19, 2003 at the 2003 SPMI State Convention in Dearborn, and revised at the 2004 State Convention in Brighton, the 2005 State Convention in Kalamazoo, the 2007 State Convention in Ann Arbor, the 2008 State Convention in Ypsilanti, the 2009 State Convention in Detroit, the 2011 State Convention in Detroit, the 2012 State Convention in Lansing, the 2013 State Convention in Putnam Township, the 2015 State Convention in Lansing, the 2017 State Convention in Lansing, the 2019 State Convention in Kalamazoo, the 2021 State Convention on Zoom, and the 2023 State Convention on Zoom.
Article I: Name and Nature
Section 1 – Name: The name of the organization shall be the Socialist Party of Michigan and denoted by its acronym SPMI.
Section 2 – Nature: The SPMI is the chartered Michigan state organization of the Socialist Party USA.
Section 3 – State Committee: Pursuant to Article XII of the Socialist Party USA Constitution, the State Committee of the SPMI shall be collectively composed of all SPMI members in good standing.
Article II: Purposes
Section 1 – Aims and Objectives: The purpose of the SPMI shall be to run and support Socialist Party USA candidates for elected local, state and federal political offices throughout the state of Michigan, and to educate, advocate and organize for the principles and politics of revolutionary democratic socialism, and carry out its work to these ends.
Section 2 – Principles: The guiding principles of the SPMI are embodied in the Statement of Principles of the Socialist Party USA (“Socialism as Radical Democracy”).
Article III: Political Action
Section 1 – Candidate Nominations:
a) The SPMI and chartered Locals thereof will only nominate candidates who agree to run under the Socialist Party banner, and run on the basis of the general content and spirit of the SPMI Platform and Statement of Principles and either:
1) run for partisan elected office on the SPMI party ballot line;
2) run for partisan elected office on the ballot line of another non-corporate-controlled party whose usage has been approved by the SPMI for that election, and by the Socialist Party National Committee or National Action Committee, as may be applicable;
3) run for partisan elected office with no party label reflected on the ballot;
4) run for partisan elected office as a write-in candidate; — or —
5) run for non-partisan elected office.
b) In any and all instances in which SPMI-nominated candidates obtain ballot-placement with the label of another party ballot line or with no partisan ballot label listed, such candidates shall always identify and label themselves clearly as Socialists first and foremost, describe themselves as candidates of the Socialist Party USA and the SPMI, and run on the basis prescribed above.
c) Any candidate receiving the party’s nomination for any federal, state, or local political office elected within the state, by either the State Party or applicable Local, shall likewise carry the corresponding nomination for that office by the State Party, the National Party, and any Party Local whose chartered jurisdiction overlaps with that office’s electoral boundaries.
d) Candidates receiving the National Party’s nomination for President and Vice President of the United States shall likewise carry the corresponding nomination for those offices by the State Party and any Party Local within the state.
e) Any candidate seeking the Party’s nomination for a statewide-elected office, or for a district or municipal office not wholly elected within the jurisdictional boundaries of an SPMI Local, must first receive a majority vote in favor of their party nomination for that office by a State Convention, state referendum, state membership meeting, or by the State Executive Committee (hereinafter “SEC”).
f) The SPMI may withdraw the Party’s nomination of any candidate nominated for elective office by the State Party.
1) Any candidate nomination made by a state membership meeting or by the SEC may be withdrawn by majority vote, upon the conclusion of a hearing, at any state membership meeting, provided that the candidate is notified of the hearing’s placement on the agenda of that state membership meeting at least five days in advance of the meeting date. Such a candidate’s nomination may also be suspended, during the period preceding such a scheduled hearing’s occurrence at the next following state membership meeting, upon a majority vote of the SEC.
2) Any candidate nomination made by a state convention may be withdrawn by state referendum vote. Such a candidate’s nomination may also be suspended, pending the outcome of an initiated referendum on withdrawing their candidacy nomination, following a majority vote in favor of suspending that candidate’s nomination at an SPMI state membership meeting; or a two-thirds majority vote of the SEC, subject to appeal at the following state membership meeting.
3) Any candidate nomination made by an SPMI Local may also be withdrawn by the nominating Local organization in accordance with its locally adopted policies and procedures.
Section 2 – Candidate Endorsements: The SPMI shall only endorse candidates who:
1) run without party affiliation or with the ballot line and/or affiliation of another non-corporate-controlled party;
2) advocate political positions and measures similar to those reflected in the Principles and/or Platform of the SPMI; – and –
3) do not advocate political positions which directly conflict with the Socialist Party’s Principles.
Section 3 – Elected Officials:
a) SPMI members who are elected to government office shall advocate and represent the principles and the general content and spirit of the platform of the Socialist Party USA and the SPMI.
b) Any member of the SPMI, elected to public office, who shall in any way vote in direct conflict with the general content and spirit of the SPMI’s principles and platform may be recalled and/or expelled from the Party.
Article IV: Membership
Section 1 – Eligibility:
a) Every person who resides within the state of Michigan and subscribes to the Statement of Principles of the Socialist Party USA shall be eligible for membership in the SPMI.
b) Except as provided in subsection (c), all eligible SPMI members, holding membership in good standing in the Socialist Party USA, shall equivalently hold membership in good standing in the SPMI and in any SPMI Local within whose Local jurisdiction such members may reside.
c) Socialist Party members in good standing, holding dual residence in both Michigan and in another state, may choose to substitute their SPMI membership for that in the other Socialist Party state organization and/or non-SPMI chartered Local within whose jurisdiction they dually reside, or for Socialist Party membership at-large, as applicable.
d) Members are encouraged to participate in discussions, meetings and events of the SPMI, help contribute to special projects and funds, and carry out work for the SPMI in a manner consistent with the expressed will of the membership.
Section 2 – Application: Every applicant for membership shall sign the membership statement required by the national Constitution of the Socialist Party USA.
Section 3 – Admission:
a) The admission of each membership applicant residing under at-large jurisdiction of the State Party shall automatically commence seven days following the SEC’s receipt of their completed application and notice of payment or waiver of dues, unless:
1) an SEC officer objects to an applicant’s automatic admission during the seven-day pendency; or
2) an applicant has previously resigned or been expelled from Socialist Party USA membership.
b) No membership applicant subject to subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2) shall be admitted until approved by a majority vote of the SEC or higher State Party body.
c) The seven-day interval preceding an applicant’s admission may be waived by a majority vote of any state membership meeting at which said applicant is in attendance.
d) An SPMI Local shall hold sole jurisdiction over the admission of new membership applicants residing within its jurisdictionally chartered boundaries, unless it has delegated responsibility for membership admissions within its boundaries to the State Party. A Local shall be presumed to have delegated such responsibility to the State Party if it has not provided the State Party with official notice of its admission process or has ceased to maintain the minimum compositional requirements for its Local Executive Committee as prescribed by the Socialist Party USA Constitution. A Local that has delegated its membership admissions processes to the State Party may resume full jurisdictional authority over such processes at any later time, upon correspondingly providing the State Party with official notice of that decision.
e) The SEC will make every effort to welcome new members, to inform them of SPMI activities and meetings, to offer them subscription to the SPMI members’ listserv, to urge them to be active within the State Party and any Party Local or local organizing committee existing where they reside, and to help put new at-large State Party members in contact with other at-large members in and near their areas.
f) The annual dues cycle for any new member begins on the date of their admission into membership in the party, rather than the date on which a new member applied.
Section 4 – Dues:
a) The SPMI, and any applicable SPMI Local, may respectively assess a sliding scale of annual State and/or Local membership dues of which payment may be required as a condition for holding Party membership in good standing.
b) Any State or Local membership dues scale must include a process by which eligible members may request and obtain dues waivers in cases of severe financial need.
Section 5 – Voting: All members in good standing shall have full voting, motion-making, and proposal-making rights at state membership meetings, applicable Local membership meetings, and State Conventions; as well as full voting rights in all applicable State and Local referenda as called.
Article V: Meetings
Section 1 – State Membership Meetings:
a) Meetings of the general membership shall take place between State Conventions and shall in general remain open to the public except when decided otherwise by the membership at a given meeting.
b) State membership meetings shall be held at least once every three months and on a weekend.
c) The Secretary, or an appointed member, shall record the meeting minutes.
d) Meetings shall only begin once a quorum of four members, who are in good standing at the time of the meeting, is met.
e) At any time following the scheduled start time, the meeting may be opened by a majority vote of all members present, regardless of which officers may, at that time, be absent.
f) State membership meetings shall approve a treasury report and previous state membership meeting minutes and minutes from any SEC meetings/phone conferences that occur in between state membership meetings. Within a week of approval of said minutes, they will be published on the Party’s internal listserv, and in other media as the SEC determines.
g) At all state membership meetings, the Treasurer shall circulate a hat or other container for those wishing to pitch in support to the State Party general treasury account. Where such meetings are held virtually, an integrated or readily accessible method for collecting voluntary contributions during the meeting shall be established and announced.
h) Except where in conflict with provisions of these bylaws or procedural rules adopted by State Convention resolution or referendum vote, the proceedings of state membership meetings shall be conducted in concordance with Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (12th Edition).
Section 2 – Conventions:
a) The State Convention is the highest-ranking Party business meeting of the SPMI.
b) State Conventions shall be held at least once every 24-months, as determined by any intervening state membership meeting or, when otherwise necessary, by the SEC. No subsequent State Convention shall be scheduled to be held within the 12 months following a preceding State Convention’s occurrence, except upon the occurrence of extraordinary and necessitating circumstances.
c) The State Convention shall not be convened unless there is a quorum of one-fifth of members in good standing or seven members, whichever number is smaller. However, once a Convention is convened, the Convention sessions may continue to proceed with Convention business through the time of the Convention’s scheduled or motion-approved adjournment, as long as five members in good standing are still present at all times in which Convention sessions are in order.
d) Delegates to the National Convention shall be elected at the directly preceding State Convention. Election of delegate seats shall be based upon the number of votes applicably received by delegate-candidates relative to the number of seats to be elected, and shall be conducted in a manner congruent with the delegation gender-balance requirements provided by the Socialist Party USA Constitution.
e) If and when it may be found necessary or most practical, the State Convention may authorize a procedure by which additional SPMI National Convention delegates and/or alternates may be elected following the State Convention’s conclusion so as to ensure maximum fulfillment of the SPMI’s allotted delegate weight. To the extent that such ordering does not ultimately result in offsetting the SPMI delegation’s gender balance, the seatable order of delegates and alternates elected at the State Convention shall automatically precede that of any and all subsequently elected delegates and/or alternates, pursuant to whatever type of procedure for later delegate/alternate elections the State Convention may authorize.
f) Proposals submitted within each topical section of the convention shall be considered in the order in which they were received.
g) Proposals shall be included for printing within the convention proposals book if received by email or mail to the SPMI State Office at least three days prior to the State Convention date. Proposals received by the SPMI State Office later than three days prior to the State Convention date may still be printed in the convention proposals book if reasonably feasible, or may alternatively be printed as supplemental pages for insertion within the convention proposals book.
h) Resolutions submitted to the SPMI State Office shall be placed on the SPMI website within two days of the submission to provide for discussion, proposed amendments, and debate.
i) The SEC shall inform all members by regular mail of the date, time and location of every Convention at least one month prior to the Convention date.
j) All specific dollar amounts or other absolute numbers referenced within the SPMI Platform must be reviewed by the general membership at each State Convention for the purpose of determining whether such numbers should be updated or changed. If there is no State Convention scheduled to be held within a given year, these numbers must be reviewed at a summer state membership meeting and can be changed by referendum.
k) A state convention required to be held for the purpose of nominating party candidates for elective public office pursuant to provisions of the Michigan Election Law may, but need not necessarily, be held conjointly with a State Convention scheduled and held under the preceding provisions of this section. Such a statutorily prescribed state convention may alternatively be scheduled and held conjointly with a state membership meeting under section 1 of this Article, or as a wholly separate event, as the State Party may determine in accordance with applicable law.
Article VI: Referenda
Section 1 – General Requirements: Any proposal question may be referred to a referendum mail ballot vote of the State Party membership upon the approval of such referral by either a two-thirds vote of the SEC or a majority vote of a monthly membership meeting, or upon the submission to the State Office of a petition bearing the verifiable written and/or electronic signatures of at least one-fifth of SPMI members in good standing. All referendum ballots shall:
1) be mailed and emailed by the SPMI State Secretary to all members in good standing two weeks prior to the response deadline and no later than 14 days after a referendum is invoked.
2) be returned to the State Office no later than 14 days after the mailing date;
3) pass only if approved by a majority vote of the members in good standing who return ballots.
Section 2 – Accompanying Statements:
a) Each proposal question submitted to a referendum vote may include one supporting ‘pro statement’ and one opposing ‘con statement,’ which shall each be limited to no more than three hundred words.
b) Where a referendum is invoked by a state membership meeting or the SEC, the invoking body may designate one or more members to compose a pro statement, which shall be submitted to the State Secretary within seven days.
c) Where a referendum is invoked by petition, a pro statement may be submitted concurrently within the petition and referendum proposal. If no pro statement is submitted concurrently, the State Secretary shall immediately post a call for a pro statement on the SPMI members listserv, whereafter any pro statement shall be submitted to the State Secretary within seven days.
d) Whenever a referendum is invoked, the State Secretary shall immediately post a call for a con statement on the SPMI members listserv, whereafter any con statement shall be submitted to the State Secretary within seven days.
e) In any instance in which more than one eligible pro statement or con statement is submitted by the deadline, the referendum shall include the first statement submitted unless the submitters of competing statements agree to a single statement within three days following the submission deadline.
Article VII: State Executive Committee
Section 1 – Purpose:
a) The SPMI is run on a day-to-day basis between membership meetings by the SEC.
b) Party decisions between meetings that do not fall under the specific duties and discretion of any one specific officer, shall require a majority vote of the SEC, unless another provision of these Bylaws or a resolution adopted by the State Party authorizes the decision, or type of decision, to go before another body.
c) Majority vote decisions collectively made by the SEC shall additionally override any conflicting determinations or actions taken by any individual officer within the capacity of their particular office.
d) Decisions made by state conventions, state membership meeting bodies, and referenda supersede decisions made by the SEC.
Section 2 – Officers:
a) The SEC shall at a minimum consist of at least three members, including a state party chairperson, secretary, and treasurer.
b) Every chartered SPMI Local may elect one Local representative to the SEC.
1) A Local’s representative on the SEC shall assume office upon the certification of that officer’s election in writing to the State Office by the Local secretary.
2) Each Local shall determine its own procedures for recalling, replacing, or filling a vacancy in the office of its Local SEC representative.
3) Where a Local chooses to elect an existing SEC officer as its Local representative, that officer shall only be entitled to one vote.
4) Where a Local is dechartered it shall automatically lose its representative on the SEC;
c) SEC officers shall be elected at State Conventions, except in cases where referendum elections are conducted to fill vacancies of elected office, as provided in section 4 of this article.
d) Members in good standing, who have been members for at least three months, may run for any elected office.
e) Officers are elected by a majority vote of all members voting.
f) An officer’s term begins one month after election, thereupon ending the current officer’s term. During this one month time, current officers must turn over all documents and resources necessary for the newly elected officer, thereby ensuring a smooth transition.
g) New SEC offices, and corresponding duties, can be created by a majority referendum vote or by a resolution at a State Convention, and must be elected at a State Convention or by referendum.
h) Should any new SEC offices be established by means of referendum, members shall not be elected to those offices by means of the same referendum ballot or mailing through which such new SEC offices are created. Such offices shall instead be designated as vacant at the time of their establishment, and shall accordingly be elected through the procedures outlined in section 4 of this article.
i) Members may be appointed and removed, by any state meeting or temporarily by the SEC, to positions or duties other than those of elected SEC offices, as necessary.
j) Officers of the SPMI may not, while using their titles, endorse or support, any candidate, party, or ballot issue that does not already have the endorsement of the SPMI.
k) Officers may never endorse candidates of the Democratic or Republican parties.
l) An officer, per their duty as an elected official, must uphold democratic decisions when and where she/he is acting in an official manner.
m) An officer may not refuse to implement a democratic decision, nor hinder a democratic decision of the State Party, nor in any way its implementation.
n) The SEC shall constitute the State Central Committee of the SPMI for purposes of compliance with, and applicable filings made pursuant to, the Michigan Election Law and Michigan Campaign Finance Act. The SPMI Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer shall likewise each respectively hold those same titles and positions of office on the Party’s State Central Committee for all legally applicable purposes.
Section 3 – Duties:
a) Officers of the SEC shall have, but not be limited to, the following duties, if such offices exist:
b) The Chairperson shall preside over all general membership and SEC meetings and State Conventions and shall be the State Party’s default official spokesperson outside of particular instances or circumstances in which other members are delegated to fulfill that task.
c) The Secretary shall manage the State Office, record and post meeting minutes; handle postal mail; administer the processing of membership applications; and maintain contact, and file required State Party reports, with the Socialist Party USA National Committee and National Office.
d) The Treasurer shall manage all State Party funds and financial accounts, including income and expenses; provide State Party treasury reports; and maintain complete records when necessary.
e) The Organizer shall handle communication with the membership in coordinating activities and facilitating contact and organizing efforts between members, Locals, and local/regional organizing committees/contacts; organizing State campaigns and assisting Local campaigns; and networking with groups deemed friendly by the SPMI.
f) The Editor of the Michigan Socialist shall be responsible for managing the composition and editing of articles, production of each issue in printed text and website formats and setting the article content for each issue.
g) When motions or resolutions are passed in the SEC, the SEC will state in the item who is responsible for what tasks and set a time table as to when tasks are expected to be completed. SEC members or other SPMI members who are assigned to/volunteer for tasks are expected to communicate difficulties they experience with completing tasks on time or to seek help. Every effort will be made to complete tasks in a timely manner.
h) SEC members and other officers shall make brief reports at all regular SEC meetings, whenever practical, on their areas of work and shall make a similar report to all SPMI membership meetings.
Section 4 –Vacancy:
a) In the event of a vacancy arising in the office of State Chairperson, Secretary, or Treasurer within one or more months before the next scheduled State Convention, the next convened state membership meeting shall be empowered to elect a member to fill the vacant office for the duration of contemporaneous SEC term.
b) If no state membership meeting is scheduled to convene within the thirty days following a vacancy arising in any office listed by subsection (a), the SEC may appoint a member to fill the vacant office until the next state membership meeting’s occurrence.
Section 5 – Recall:
a) Except as provided in Section 2(b), all elected officers may be recalled from elected office by the State Party membership by referendum vote.
b) A recall vote shall be initiated and conducted under the referendum procedures outlined in Article VI.
c) Recall votes require a simple majority of members voting.
d) An officer made subject to a recall vote shall be given first opportunity to compose, or designate another member to compose, the con statement included with the referendum mailed on their proposed recall from elected office, pursuant to Article VI.
e) Proposals to recall multiple elected officers may be initiated through a single petition or motion, and may be mailed on a single referendum ballot, however, each individual officer’s proposed recall must be presented as a separate proposal on any applicable referendum ballot.
Article VIII: Locals
Section 1 – Charter:
a) Local organizations may be chartered by the SEC or the state membership upon the application of five or more members in the area of a proposed Local. Local organizations may also be de-chartered by the State Party for good and documented cause, after a fair and open hearing at a state membership meeting or at a State Convention.
b) The SEC or the state membership shall have the right to amend a Local charter if requested, or if it is found necessary by a vote of the State Party at a membership meeting.
Section 2 – Specifications: A Local shall:
a) consist of all members in good standing residing in the area designated by its charter;
b) elect a Local Executive Committee of at least three members.
Section 3 – Local Organizing Committees:
a) The SPMI may authorize a Local Organizing Committee (“LOC”) in regions or areas of the State in which no chartered SPMI Local presently exists, as a local/regional subcommittee or working group of the SPMI, upon the application of at least two members in good standing who reside within the area, who are approved and willing to serve as LOC conveners.
b) LOC’s may conduct local meetings, and help to coordinate Party organizing, outreach, and other areas of work within their regional areas where established, but shall not hold jurisdictionally representative or deliberative authority on the Party’s behalf.
c) LOC’s should report to the State Party on any organizing efforts and Party work conducted within their areas whenever applicable.
d) The application for recognition and listing of each LOC must be renewed at least once annually by either its previously approved conveners or by two or more new members approved to serve as LOC conveners within that area.
e) Members serving as LOC conveners may conduct pre-admission interviews with new applicants within their areas, pursuant to Article, IV, section 3 and the State’s Party’s pre-admission contact guidelines, provided that such members promptly notify and inform the State Office of their contact made with each given new membership applicant, whenever applicable, in accordance with the party’s applicable guidelines.
Section 4 – Regional Contacts:
a) The SPMI may approve individual volunteer members, seeking to assist in local-level organizing within regions of the State where no chartered SPMI Local currently exists, for listing as Regional Contacts on the SPMI website and elsewhere as appropriate.
b) Members serving as Regional Contacts should provide periodic updates to the State Party on inquiries received in relation to their Regional Contact listing; particularly those involving indications of interest in local-level organizing and/or coordination within their regional areas.
c) Members serving as regional contacts may conduct pre-admission interviews with new applicants within their areas, pursuant to Article, IV, section 3 and the State’s Party’s pre-admission contact guidelines, provided that such members promptly notify and inform the State Office of their contact made with each given new membership applicant, whenever applicable, in accordance with the party’s applicable guidelines.
d) Each Regional Contact must annually re-confirm their continued willingness to remain listed and serving in that capacity.
Section 5 – Campaigns: Locals may run and/or endorse candidates or ballot issue positions in their chartered area while abiding by Article II and abiding by any resolutions on electoral work passed by the State Party.
Section 6 – Multi-State Locals: Locals may be jointly chartered within an area crossing the boundaries between Michigan and another contiguous state if the following conditions are met:
1) The other contiguous state into which the Local’s jurisdiction spans has a nationally chartered state organization of the Socialist Party USA;
2) All of the members of the Local continue to exclusively hold state-level Party membership in the state organization within whose jurisdiction they individually reside, except as provided by Article IV, section 1(c);
3) Both of the two jointly chartering state organizations retain the independently held authority to de-charter the Local;
4) New Party membership applicants residing within the Michigan side of the Local’s jurisdiction remain subject to Article IV, section 3 and any other membership admission policies adopted through resolutions of the SPMI;
5) The SPMI retains exclusive immediate jurisdiction over any appealed expulsions of SPMI members conducted by the Local;
6) Any candidates nominated by the Local for political office within Michigan remain subject to Article II and any applicable electoral policy resolutions adopted by the SPMI; – and –
7) The other jointly chartering state organization agrees to the prerequisite terms outlined in this section, as well as any other applicable terms which the SPMI may determine to be necessary for joint agreement by both state organizations prior to jointly issuing a charter to the proposed Local.
Article IX: Publications
Section 1 – Website:
a) The SPMI shall publish and maintain an official State Party website.
b) The SPMI website shall be administered by a Website Committee composed of SPMI members appointed at state membership meetings, or by the SEC, and shall remain fully accountable to those representative bodies of the State Party, in accordance with Article VII, section 2(h).
c) The SPMI website shall include the State Party Platform and Bylaws, membership and contact information, an online membership application, adopted State Party statements, applicable meeting and event information, public announcements, and any other content selected for inclusion by the State Party, or by Website Committee members, subject to review and directive by the State Party.
d) Any disagreements arising in relation to the website’s content or administration between individual members of the Website Committee should be brought to the determination of the SEC and/or following state membership meeting by the Website Committee members concerned.
Section 2 – Magazine:
a) The SPMI may publish, if funds are available, a magazine representing the multiple voices of the SPMI for public distribution.
b) The magazine shall be called The Michigan Socialist (TMS).
c) The content selection, production, editing, and lay-out, of The Michigan Socialist shall be conducted maintained by an Editor and/or Editorial Board.
d) All members and non-members may submit articles, from which the Editor and/or Editorial Board shall decide which articles to publish, and the placement therein;
e) The final version of each issue must be approved by a majority vote of the Editorial Board, SEC, or a state membership meeting prior to its publication.
f) The SEC may, by way of a majority vote, override decisions by the Editor and/or Editorial Board, except when the Editorial Board is elected by a State Convention, in which case decisions of the Editorial Board shall take precedence, subject to review by a state membership meeting, State Convention, or state membership referendum. In instances in which an Editorial Board is composed of both Convention-elected and post-Convention-meeting-appointed or SEC-appointed members, the SEC and Editorial Board may co-convene a single combined committee for purposes of voting on approving the final version of an issue. Dual members of the SEC and Editorial Board, in such instances, shall be entitled to only one vote.
Article X: Bylaws Amendments and Supremacy
Section 1 – Amendments: These bylaws may be amended by a 2/3 majority vote of either a State Convention or referendum. State Conventions and referenda may also amend the State Platform by a majority vote. Such amendments to either document shall take effect following the close of the State Convention or referendum where adopted.
Section 2 – Supremacy Clause:
a) These bylaws replace all previous bylaws of the SPMI.
b) In cases where these bylaws come into conflict with any Local bylaws provision, these Bylaws take precedence.