The Constitution of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts
(As amended at the 2008 Regular State Convention)

Preamble, Name and Purpose

We, the Libertarians of Massachusetts, do hereby unite to form the 
Libertarian Party of Massachusetts, in order to give voice to and 
implement the fundamental principle of libertarianism: that no person, 
group of people, or government has the right to initiate force against 
any other person, group of people, or government. We shall do this by 
supporting candidates for public office, publicizing the principles and 
goals of libertarianism, and taking any actions that the state 
convention or the state committee deem will further our aims.
The Party, its By-Laws and State Committee exist solely as a path for 
reaching the objectives of this preamble.

We assert our rights of freedom of speech, press and association as 
guaranteed in the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States 
Constitution and the precedent set by the Supreme Court’s decision in Eu 
v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee, et al., 489 U.S. 
214, 109 S.Ct. 1013, 103 L.Ed.2d 271 (1989), and the same rights, 
however worded, guaranteed in the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, 
to govern this Party and participate in the electoral process as we deem 
fit.

Article I: Membership

1. Members are all dues-paying members in Massachusetts, and all other 
persons who may so qualify under uniform rules of non-dues paying 
membership for which the state committee may provide in its by-laws.

Article II: State Convention
1. A regular state convention shall be held in every year.

2. The delegates to the convention shall be those Members who have 
registered for same, according to provisions set by the state committee 
for timeliness, attendance limits, and cost defrayment, and who have 
also been Members for 90 days prior to the start of the convention.

3. The Chair and the Secretary of the state committee shall be 
respectively the chair and secretary of the convention, until and unless 
the convention chooses other officers. The convention shall adopt its 
own rules.

4. A Massachusetts state convention shall have the authority by 
two-thirds vote to adopt or amend a platform.

5. The convention shall have the authority to adopt or amend the bylaws 
by a majority vote.

6. The State Committee may call additional conventions, termed special 
state conventions, by a two-thirds vote. The state committee must inform 
the current membership, at least 30 days in advance, in writing, of the 
agenda, place, date, quorum, and time of any special state convention.

7. If 10% or 500 (whichever is fewer) of the current dues paying 
membership signs a petition requesting a special state convention, and 
mails or presents the petition papers to the state committee, the state 
committee must organize a state convention to be held between 30 and 60 
days of the date of delivery of the petition to the state committee.
The state committee must inform the current membership, at least 30 days 
in advance, in writing, of the agenda, place, date, quorum, and time of 
any special state convention.

In a single calendar year a state party member may not sign more than 
one petition requesting a special state convention.

The petition shall specify the agenda of the special state convention, 
and the state committee may, by majority vote, append items to the end 
of that agenda, but may not otherwise change the agenda. The quorum for 
a special state convention shall be 10% or 500 (whichever is less) of 
the current dues paying membership of the party.

If one or more dues paying state party members mails or presents to the 
state committee a written request to assemble a petition requesting a 
special state convention, then, within 60 days, the state committee must 
inform the dues paying members of this request, and the names and 
contact information of the party members who made the request. Other 
relevant information may also be included. State party members must be 
informed about the petition by placing the information on the first page 
of the party newsletter, and prominently on any electronic media 
controlled by the state committee.

Article III: Nominations of Candidates
1. The state convention shall have the authority to nominate a candidate 
for any office or a slate of candidates for any set of offices to be 
filled by the voters, or some portion thereof, of the state. If the 
Libertarian Party has party status and is required to participate in the 
Primary Election in order to be included in the General Election, or if 
the State Committee has so chosen to participate, then the secretary of 
the convention shall prepare the certificates of nomination of all such 
candidates as required by Chapter 53 of the General Laws of 
Massachusetts, obtain the signature, oath and residence of the presiding 
officer, and affix his or her own signature, oath and residence to the 
same, obtain the written acceptance of the nominee in each case, and 
submit each such certificate to the secretary of state within the time 
required by Chapter 53, Section 5.

2. Except as stated in the preceding section, the responsibility for 
meeting the legal requirements for ballot access, as determined by state 
law according to the Party’s status, shall rest with each candidate. 
This shall be the case without regard to whether the Party holds a 
primary election. Such responsibilities include, but are not necessarily 
limited to, the number of signatures and the qualifications of petition 
signatories, and the manner and timeliness of their collection and 
submission to the correct town and state election officials.

3.A person's name shall not appear on any Libertarian primary ballot, 
nor shall any person receive the nomination of the Libertarian Party of 
Massachusetts, for any partisan election, unless that person is a 
recognized member of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts.

4. In the event of the withdrawal, death, or ineligibility of any 
candidate to be elected by the voters, or some portion thereof, of the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the vacancy may be filled in accordance 
with current state laws, or by the State Committee.

Article IV: State Committee

1. The delegates to each regular state convention shall select up to 9 
state committee members, to serve as the state committee until the 
conclusion of the next regular state convention. To be eligible for 
election to the state committee, a person must be a member of the state 
party whose dues are current.

2. The Representatives on the state committee shall within 30 days of 
the state convention, meet and organize by the choice of a Chair, a 
Secretary, a Treasurer and such other officers as they may decide to elect.

3. A vacancy in any office, or in any Representative position on the 
committee originally filled by the state convention, shall be filled by 
the state committee.

4. The State Committee may appoint additional Representatives.

5. Representatives of the State Committee, including the State Committee 
serving at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall hold 
office until adjournment of the next state convention at which their 
successors are chosen.

6. The state committee may make rules for its proceedings, and for the 
calling of state conventions, for the selection of delegates and 
alternates to the national convention. The rules made for the selection 
of delegates and alternates to the national convention shall be 
submitted to the secretary of state as provided by Chapter 53, Section 
70B of the General Laws of Massachusetts, whenever said Section applies 
to this Party.

7. The state committee shall notify the secretary of state of its 
decisions whether or not to hold primaries to the extent required or 
allowed by Chapter 53, Section 2. To the extent the state committee has 
the option of whether to hold a primary under Chapter 53, Section 2, it 
shall notify the Secretary of State of its chosen option, and shall do 
so in a timely manner under that Section. In the event the state 
committee has failed, by two weeks before the date described in that 
Section, to make an affirmative choice to hold a primary, the Chair 
shall notify the Secretary of State that the state committee has chosen 
not to hold a primary.

8. The state committee shall nominate presidential electors as required 
by Chapter 53, Section 8.

9. The state committee shall have the authority to adopt or amend the 
bylaws by a two-thirds vote.

10. To be elected or serve as a member or officer of the state 
committee, a person must be a dues paying member of the Libertarian 
Party of Massachusetts as defined by the state party constitution and 
bylaws. A person who ceases to be a member of the party ceases at the 
same moment to be a state committee member or officer.

11. Every member of the state committee must make available their name, 
their state party office if any, and a working way to contact them, in 
the party newsletter and on the party web site. This may be a physical 
mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, or some combination 
of these.

Article V: Delegates to National Convention
1.In any year in which candidates for presidential electors are to be 
elected, the selection of delegates and alternate delegates to the 
national convention shall be by that system adopted by the state 
committee. The system adopted by the state committee shall be set forth 
in written rules and procedures covering all aspects of the delegate 
selection process and, if the state committee has made a timely decision 
to hold a presidential primary, a copy of such rules and procedures 
shall be filed with the secretary of state on or before October first of 
the year preceding the year in which presidential electors are to be 
elected.

Article VI: Bylaws, Rules and Amendments
1. Bylaws to implement and clarify the authority and duties of persons 
and bodies authorized by this charter may be adopted or amended by a 
majority vote at a state convention, or by a two-thirds vote of the 
state committee. When each State Committee meets for the first time to 
organize, any bylaws previously in force shall remain in force unless a 
two-thirds vote of the State Committee shall specify otherwise, provided 
that any amendments to the bylaws shall be consistent with this charter 
and with actions at State Conventions.

2. Each body authorized by this charter may adopt rules for its proceedings.

3. This charter may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the delegates 
present, whether or not voting, at a state convention, provided that 
there is a quorum, if and only if the following conditions are met:
a. The amendment has been approved beforehand by the state committee, or 
has been endorsed beforehand by the signatures of at least that number 
of representatives which is two more than a majority, which amendment 
and endorsement shall be submitted in writing to the secretary of the 
state committee, and
b. A copy of the proposed amendment has been sent to each delegate to 
the state convention by mail, postmarked at least two weeks prior to the 
date of the state convention in which the amendment is to be considered. 
Article Two, Section 4, and this section, shall be amended only by a 
seven-eighths vote of the delegates present, whether or not voting, at a 
state convention.