LPME Bylaws

Bylaws of the Libertarian Party of Maine, Inc.
As amended at the Libertarian Party of Maine Convention on July 11th 2026 

ARTICLE I – Name 

The name of the corporation shall be the “Libertarian Party of Maine, Inc.” hereinafter referred to as the “Party”. 

ARTICLE II – Purpose 

The purpose of the Party is to implement and give voice to the libertarian principles such as those in the “Statement of Principles” of the Libertarian Party of the United States by: 

1. Promoting candidates for public office within Maine; 
2. Working for the election of the National Libertarian Party nominee for President and Vice President; III. Promoting, chartering, and coordinating affiliate parties throughout the State of Maine; IV. Entering into informational and educational activities; 
3. Supporting or opposing referenda, ballot initiatives, citizen vetoes, and other ballot questions; VI. Engaging in any and all additional activities necessary and proper to advance the “Statement of Principles” and the cause of Liberty in America. 

ARTICLE III – Principles 

The Party shall always act in accordance with the “Statement of Principles” of the National Libertarian Party. 

ARTICLE IV – Membership 

1. Full members of the Party shall be those persons residing in Maine who have certified in writing that they oppose the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals. This certification may be submitted to either the National Libertarian Party or the Libertarian Party of Maine. 
2. Membership in the Party is not to be restricted by a person’s race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, National origin, or residency. 

III. There are no dues or fees charged or levied to become a full member of the Party. Voluntary contributions are accepted. A person may become an “enrolled” member of the Party in accordance with state law. 

1. A sustaining member is defined as one who is a full member and has either: 
2. Paid dues to the National party as per its Bylaws to be considered a sustaining member, or alternatively; 
3. Donated the minimum annual dues for being a National sustaining member directly to the LPME instead. 
4. Donated the minimum amount for a Lifetime Membership within a one-year period at any time in the past.

ARTICLE V – Organization 

1. Officers 
2. The officers of the Party shall be Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. 
3. Terms of office shall be one year. These officers shall be elected at the Convention by the attending sustaining members and shall take office immediately upon the final 

adjournment of such Meeting or Convention and serve until the final adjournment of the next Meeting or Convention. All officers will be elected by a majority. 

1. The Region Representative Executive Committee Member(s) shall be elected at Convention by the attending sustaining members. 
2. No offices shall be combined. 
3. The officers shall have such powers and perform such duties as are delegated by the Executive Committee and are not inconsistent with the provisions of these Bylaws and the laws of the State of Maine. 
4. The Executive Committee shall fill vacancies if any of the positions of the Executive Committee are vacant not due to suspension, with the exception of Chair so long as the position of Vice Chair is currently filled. 
5. If the position of Chair is vacated, the Vice Chair becomes Chair. 
6. Any officer of the Party may be temporarily suspended by a vote of three (3) Executive Committee members, subject to ratification by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the sustaining members attending a special Convention called for such purpose. The members will then elect a replacement officer, except in the case of the Chair being suspended, in which case the Vice Chair shall become Chair, and the sustaining members shall elect a new Vice Chair. Such officers will complete the term of the office vacated. 
7. Officers and members of the Executive Committee may not serve as an officer of, or committee member of, another state or National political party. This applies to all 

organizations that consider themselves political parties, whether or not the state of Maine has given any official status to them. 

1. If an individual is elected or appointed as an Officer or State Committee member to the Party while holding a conflicting role in another party, as defined above, that individual has twenty-four (24) hours to resign from one position or the other. If such an individual fails to do so, the position is considered vacant and may be filled according to the rules so described. 
2. All Officers and Executive Committee members must be sustaining members of the Libertarian Party of Maine. 
3. Unless the Executive Committee appoints a Finance Chair, the Treasurer shall serve as the Finance Chair of the party. 
4. So long as the State of Maine recognizes the Libertarian Party as an option for voter registration, all Executive Committee members must be enrolled in the party within thirty (30) days of being elected or appointed to the Executive Committee. Executive Committee members may not change enrollment status to another political party 

during their term. 

1. Executive Committee
2. The Executive Committee shall consist of the following: 
3. The four elected officers of the party, and 
4. Up to four (4) region representatives. 
5. The Executive Committee is the Board of Directors for the purposes of the Maine Nonprofit Corporation Act and shall be responsible for the control and management of all the affairs, properties, and funds of the Party consistent with these Bylaws. 
6. The Executive Committee shall meet at least four (4) times per calendar year. Notice of all Executive Committee meetings shall be given not less than seven (7) days prior to said meeting. Posting of meeting notice on the Party website shall be considered notice of the meeting. 
7. The Executive Committee shall meet at such times and places as may be determined by the Executive Committee, by call of the Chair, or by the written request of any two (2) members of the Executive Committee. More than one half (½) of the Executive Committee thereof shall constitute a quorum at all meetings. 
8. The Executive Committee may agree by majority vote to allow absentee ballots by mail or telephone. 
9. No secret meeting will be held by the Executive Committee; all meetings will be open to all Party members, excluding Executive Sessions dealing with legal and confidential financial matters. 

III. Region Representatives 

1. The Eastern Region representative shall be responsible for Aroostook, Penobscot, Hancock, and Washington counties. 
2. The Central Region representative shall be responsible for Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, and Waldo counties. 
3. The Southern Region representative shall be responsible for Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Androscoggin, and York counties. 
4. The Western Region representative shall be responsible for Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, and Piscataquis counties. 
5. Region Representative duties are outlined by the Party Standard Operating Procedures manual for the Executive Committee. 
6. County Committees 
7. The membership of the County Committee shall be the party’s Sustaining Members residing in that county. 
8. After the appointment or election of a new acting County Chair, the newly established County Committee will have six months to formally elect a Chair. If it does not meet to elect a Chair, the State Committee may choose to replace the acting County Chair. 
9. The Executive Committee shall create rules for the formation and affiliation of a County Committee pursuant to the Party Standard Operating Procedures manual. 
10. Judicial Committee. 
11. The Judicial Committee shall be composed of five (5) full members elected at Convention. The term of a member of the Judicial Committee shall run through the period of the next Party Convention and until a successor is appointed.
12. No Executive Committee member may serve on the Judicial Committee. 
13. The Judicial Committee shall be the final body of appeal in all matters regarding interpretation of the Bylaws, Rules, or Resolutions of the Party subject to the provision that a decision of the Committee may be overturned by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of a Convention. 
14. The Judicial Committee may fill vacancies with any eligible party member by a majority vote. 
15. Exhaustion. 
16. In the event that all Executive Committee positions become vacant, former Executive Committee members who are willing and qualified to be members of the Executive Committee shall constitute themselves as the Interim Executive Committee. They shall promptly act as described in this Article to fill positions on the Executive Committee. Until it is replaced via Elections at a Convention or Special Meeting under Article VI of these Bylaws, the Interim Executive Committee shall have all powers and bear all 

responsibilities of the regular Executive Committee. 

ARTICLE VI – Conventions and Special Meetings 

1. Conventions 
2. The Party shall hold a Convention every year at the time and place, whether online or in person, as determined by the Executive Committee. The Party may have additional Conventions as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee. 
3. A special Convention may be called by presenting a petition signed by ten percent (10%) of the sustaining members of the Party, to be held within thirty (30) days of the 

presentation to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall appoint a Convention Committee to arrange the Convention. Notice of the Convention shall be given no less than fourteen (14) days prior to said Convention. A post on the Party website, social media, and mass email shall be considered notice of the Convention. 

1. Any sustaining member attending any Convention of the Party may cast a vote as a delegate. 
2. The nomination of delegates and alternates to the National Convention shall be held at a state Convention within a year of the National Convention after the number of 

delegates is announced. 

1. Special Meetings 
2. If a Convention is not called as provided under this Article by December 31 of any year, any five (5) members of the Party may call a Special Meeting. Notice of the Special 

Meeting shall be given not less than fourteen (14) days prior to said meeting. Posting of meeting notice on the National Libertarian Party website (www.lp.org) shall be 

considered notice of the meeting. New officers will be elected at the Special Meeting and other business will be conducted as required. Any sustaining members may vote at this Special Meeting.

ARTICLE VII – Platform 

1. The Libertarian Party of Maine supports reducing the size, scope, and power of government at all levels and on all issues, and opposes increasing the size, scope, or power of government at any level or for any purpose. 
2. The Executive Committee may appoint a Platform Committee whose responsibility it is to write and submit said platform to the Convention for approval on a plank-by-plank basis by a two-thirds (⅔) majority of the delegates present and voting at said Convention. 

ARTICLE VIII – None of the Above 

1. Votes cast for “None of the Above” in voting on the Party’s candidates for delegates to National Libertarian Party Conventions, representatives to the National Libertarian Party Platform Committee, and for the Executive Committee shall be considered valid and properly recorded. 
2. Should “None of the Above” receive a plurality for an officer, another election for that office shall be called. No candidate who received fewer votes than “None of the Above” will be eligible for that election. 

ARTICLE IX – Election of Delegates to Libertarian Party National Conventions 

1. All delegates and alternates shall be sustaining members of the party and registered to vote Libertarian in the state of Maine. 
2. Delegates and alternates shall be elected by members in attendance at the Party’s Convention in the year of the Libertarian Party National Convention. 
3. The first step in electing delegates shall be to receive any number of seconded nominations. 
4. The Party Convention attendants shall then vote by secret ballot for ”acceptable” nominees of their choice. Delegates may also indicate ”unacceptable” nominees. 
5. Only those nominees receiving more “acceptable” votes than ”unacceptable” votes shall be delegates or alternates. They shall be ranked in order of number of “acceptable” votes received. 
6. Should there be more winners than slots allocated by the National Libertarian Party those with the most “acceptable” votes shall be delegates and those remaining shall be 

alternates. 

1. In case of ties for the last regular delegate slots, all those tied shall be ranked by voting Party Convention attendees. Those with the highest rank sum are regular delegates. Further ties shall be resolved by the Convention Chair. 
2. The next ranking alternate, as determined by the Convention Chair, shall become a regular delegate in case a regular cannot attend the Libertarian Party National Convention. Other alternates shall substitute for regular delegates on the National Convention floor. 

III. The Delegation Chair shall be elected by the delegates to the National Convention. An alternate Delegation Chair shall also be elected. 

1. Prior to and at the National Convention, the Delegation Chair may select additional alternate delegates. All alternate delegates must be residents of Maine and sustaining members of
   

either the LPME or National Libertarian Party and are registered to vote in the state of Maine. If recognized by the State of Maine, delegates must be enrolled as Libertarians. 

1. If the Party is eligible to elect National Libertarian Party Committee Members, the election of such members will be made by a vote as determined by the Executive Committee. 

ARTICLE X – Parliamentary Authority 

Robert’s Rules of Order – Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority for all matters or procedures not specifically covered by the Bylaws of the Party. 

ARTICLE XI – Amendments 

1. These Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members voting on that particular issue at any Convention or Special Meeting. 
2. The Executive Committee is permitted to make typographical and grammatical corrections to these Bylaws that go into effect only when unanimously approved by all Executive Committee members in a policy established by said Executive Committee. Such changes may not materially change the essence or meaning of the Bylaws. A simple majority vote at the 

succeeding Convention can revert any typographical or grammatical changes made in this fashion. 

1. To ensure oversight by Party members, proposed Bylaws updates that demonstrate a change to the essence or meaning of the Bylaws must be presented to all sustaining members before changes can be published by the Party. A motion at Convention can be raised at any time in the normal course of business by any sustaining member of the Party to revert or accept said changes. 

III. Article IV:II, Article V:I.E, and this Article shall not be amended or suspended without a seven-eighths (⅞) vote. 

ARTICLE XII –Nomination of Candidates 

We prefer that candidates for statewide races, state legislature races, and U.S Congressional district races are nominated at the Convention or any Special Convention called by the Executive Committee for such a purpose. Any candidate so nominated must be a full member or sustaining member of the party. All candidates must be registered to vote as a Libertarian, so long as the State of Maine recognizes “Libertarian” as an enrollment option, before they are eligible for endorsement.