Party Executive Committees

As a political party member, your goals may not always coincide with the official party platform. You may work within the political party framework to influence the process. The foremost effort should be to become a member of your party's county executive committee. Executive committees for the counties and state are actively involved in the party platform development.

Per county, each party must elect a man and woman to serve on the party's state executive committee. The method of selecting the state committee man and woman is determined by party rule. Democratic precinct committee people elect their state committee man and woman from their ranks -- the state committee slots do not appear on Democratic ballots. Republicans let all Republican voters participate in selecting state committee men and women. An individual can run for both the state committee position (countywide) and their respective precinct committee position (only within the precinct of their residence) at the same time.

Section 103.091, Florida Statute, provides for each political party to have a county executive committee. This committee is entitled to have at least one committee man and woman for each precinct. For precincts with 1,000 or more registered voters, two men and women are elected to each precinct position. Election is by plurality -- the person receiving the most votes wins. If you have no opposition for the position, you name will not appear on the ballot. If you have a contested position, candidates will be listed alphabetically. Those positions appear only on first primary ballots in Presidential election years. This is a four-year term of office or until you move out of the precinct. Party rules determine whether a vacancy occurs if you move out of the precinct which elected you prior to the end of your term.

Once elected, you will need to attend regularly scheduled executive committee meetings -- usually monthly, from September or October through May or June; to work to get your party's electors to vote in the primary election and all electors to vote in the general -- to vote either by absentee or going to the polls; and to support your party nominees in their campaign for office. Of course, in an even-numbered year, you work to get the vote out during August because of the first primary election date. There is a limit on the number of regularly scheduled meetings which may be missed without affecting your continued committee membership.

To file for your party's precinct committee seat, the following qualifications must be met:

• You must be a registered elector of that political party.

• You must be a resident of the precinct you seek to represent.

• You must qualify with the Supervisor of Elections in your respective county between noon, Monday, the first day of qualifying (57th day prior to first primary date) and noon, Friday, the last day of qualifying (53rd day prior to first primary date).

• You must complete Form DS-DE 24 which is the Loyalty Oath (and designation of office sought/how name is to be listed). You are not required to complete any forms relating to financial disclosure, designation of a campaign treasurer or depository (bank). Executive committee candidates are exempt from Chapter 106, Florida Statutes.

• Florida's Constitutional dual office holding prohibition does not apply to political party executive committee positions.

Jennifer J. Edwards Collier Government Complex. 3301 Tamiami Trail East, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Building. Naples, Florida 34112-4907 Phone: (239) 252-8450  -  Fax (239) 774-9468 Email: SupervisorOfElections@CollierGov.net

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