Volunteers Needed

Precinct Delegates and Party Members

The goal of a political party is to elect people to office so that its philosophy and beliefs become law. Our Party’s strength lies in its people – our members, precinct delegates, volunteers, elected officials, candidates and voters. The foundation of our Party is our precinct delegates and members from which we get the ideas, volunteers, candidates, funds and all the other resources necessary to win elections.

This section describes the basic roles and duties of precinct delegates and members of the Michigan Democratic Party. Precinct delegates and members are part of creating our two-year plan.

A. Precinct Delegates

The role of a precinct delegate is one of the most important of any elected office.
It is the active precinct delegate who wins elections for the Democratic Party.
The precinct is the smallest political unit in the country and all the voters in a precinct vote at one location. The precinct is where elections are won and lost. Precinct delegates are elected directly by the voters of each precinct to serve as a bridge between voters and the Democratic Party.

Precinct delegates:

• Help Democrats get registered to vote.
• Take information on issues and candidates to the voters in their precinct.
• Identify other Democrats and recruit new Party members.
• Help turn out the Democratic vote on Election Day.
• Keep Democratic leaders informed about the issues that concern voters.
• Elect Democratic Party leadership at county, congressional district and state levels.

Every precinct has at least one precinct delegate position, sometimes more as determined by the local party. Precinct delegates are elected at the August primary in even-numbered years and serve for two years. People become candidates for precinct delegate by filing an Affidavit of Identity, available from their local clerk, in May of even-numbered years by the thirteenth Tuesday before the August primary.

After their election, the county clerk will notify the precinct delegates of their election and of the first local Party convention they must attend in August of even-numbered years. County chairs should communicate the list of newly elected delegates to the MDP.

Precinct delegates must be members of the Michigan Democratic Party in order to vote at these conventions. At these local conventions, committee members for the Fall State Convention are elected and resolutions are adopted.

After the general election, precinct delegates attend local conventions where party leadership is elected for the next two years, and precinct delegates attend the Spring State Convention which elects State Party and Congressional District leadership for the next two years. Precinct delegates must be members of the Michigan Democratic Party in order to vote at these conventions.