On Saturday, March 9, 2013, Bryan Daugherty submitted his own version of Ken Anderson's appeal.
Because he was a candidate for the County Committee Chair the night of the election, Bryan was one of only two members who Rich Cebra and his attorney would consider "affected persons." The other was Roger Ek, who ran for Vice Chair.
In any event, Bryan appealed the same election for the same reason. He contended that an ongoing breach of bylaws was in operation and that the December 2012 meeting election set the stage for that continuing breach.
Penobscot County had ended up with a Chair who was put in office during an election which had nearly half of the voters ineligible to vote. She had just come in seventh in a field of seven in her race for Senate, and she was loathe to let go of this new title, as can be ascertained by reading her online chat with me in the aftermath of the bogus election. Her words, "My position is I received 40 votes and Bryan received 31," were the first indication of just how many non-voters voted in the election. It was the first we'd heard that there were 71 votes while the Committee had a total of fewer than 37 voting members.
Roberts Rules of Order addresses continuing breaches of the bylaws and asserts that there is no time limit for such breaches.
From Bryan's appeal:
Roberts Rules of Order, Edition 11, page 251, Point of Order, says "The only exceptions to the rule that a point of order must be made at the time of the breach arise in connection with breaches that are of a continuing nature, in which case a point of order can be made at any time during the continuance of the breach. Instances of this kind occur when..:
A.) A main motion has been adopted that conflicts with the bylaws of the organization.
D.) Any action that has been taken in violation of a fundamental principle of parliamentary law.
E.) Any action has been taken in violation of a rule protecting absentees, a rule in the bylaws requiring a vote to be taken by ballot, or a rule protecting a basic right of an individual member.
Bryan Daugherty further stated:
That Chairman Cebra ruled prematurely and without due diligence of the Maine Republican Party Executive Committee: Rule 23(a) clearly states that the Executive Committee has the power to exercise jurisdiction over such matters, “when such controversy affects the interests of the party as a whole or the rights of any member of the party to participate in its affairs.
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