Program Schedule

• 10:00 am: Registration and Light Breakfast. Check in, then get your coffee or tea and pastries as we have a busy morning!
• 10:20 am: Welcome – NOW NJ President, Jill LaZare
• 10:30 am: NOW NJ Candidates’ introductions and voting
• 11:00 am: Bylaws review, discussion and voting
• 11:45 am: LUNCH. It’s time to celebrate!! Please enjoy the lovely spread, with vegetarian options, if preferred, and visit the cash bar.
• 12:15 pm: Laughs with award winning comic, Liz Glazer
• 1:30 pm: Inspiration from National NOW president, Kim Villanueva
• 1:50 pm: Congratulations and well-wishes from our special guests in person or via video: Founder of NJ Resistance, Hetty Rosenstein, Congressman Rob Menendez, Congressman Herb Conaway, Assemblywoman Alixon Colazzos, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson and Councilman Derel Stroud, Senators Cory Booker & Andy Kim, and Congressmen Josh Gottheimer & Frank Pallone, Co-executive Director of Center for Popular Democracy, Analilia Mejia
• 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm: Looking into the Future & Closing remarks, NOW NJ President, Jill LaZare

 I. Admission

The NOW-NJ State Conference shall be open to the duly registered members of the press and the general public.

Admission of the press and the general public to the workshops shall be at the discretion of the Conference Committee.

II. Credentialing

All NOW-NJ members whose renewal dates are within three months of the conference date (8/15/25 or later) and all new members whose dues are paid by 30 days before the Conference date (10/15/25) shall be credentialed to vote at the 2025 Conference.

Eligibility shall be determined by the following methods: current membership status on the NOW-NJ printout run by National 30 days before the conference date, cancelled checks or written records of NOW-NJ chapter president and/or chapter treasurer.

III. Conference Floor Nominations

 The Nominating Committee will accept all nominations and will report names of all eligible candidates to the Conference.

Nominations for NOW-NJ state officers will not be accepted from the floor of the Conference.

IV.  Motions, Resolutions, and Discussions in Plenary Sessions

 At the opening session, the NOW-NJ state president shall appoint a timekeeper whose duty shall be to indicate to each speaker the expiration of the time allowed.

Motions may be made only by voting NOW-NJ members.  The proponent of each motion must submit the motion to the secretary, signed with the proponent’s name and NOW-NJ affiliation, and shall be allowed to open debate on her/his motion.  Only NOW-NJ members may speak on motions.  Only credentialed members may vote on motions.

Discussions shall be limited to one and one-half minutes for any one speaker, not to exceed a total time of ten minutes per motion on debate.  Expiration of time shall be indicated by the timekeeper.  Additional time may be allowed upon a two-thirds vote of the Conferenc

Each member who wishes to speak from the floor shall taker her/his turn at the microphone as determined by the Conference facilitator stationed nearby.  No member shall speak a second time to a motion until other members who wish to speak have an opportunity to do so.

Tellers for counting purposes shall be appointed by the NOW-NJ state president at the opening session.

There shall be no proxy voting.

At the plenary sessions, the State Conference body shall consider resolutions submitted by the NOW-NJ board of directors, chapters, NOW-NJ task forces, or ten members.

Each resolution must include the name of the entity introducing it.

Those resolutions calling for a program of action must also include objectives, timeline, and budget.

All resolutions must be submitted to the Resolutions Committee by the deadline specified in the Conference schedule.  They must be in typed, reproducible form.

All resolutions will be considered in the following order:

• NOW-NJ state board priority resolutions
• Resolutions received from other entities of NOW-NJ in order of receipt

(Resolutions dealing with the same issue will be considered together, regardless of the entity introducing them.)

Prior to consideration of resolutions, the Conference will adopt realistic time limit rules for debate in accordance with the number of resolutions to be considered.  Debate time for any individual resolution cannot extend except by a two-thirds vote of the conference body.

Debate will be in accordance with conventional parliamentary procedures.

All resolutions that are not considered by the Conference body due to time restrictions of the Conference shall be remanded to the NOW-NJ state board of directors for consideration at the board meeting following the Conference.

I. Voting Procedure

 The Elections Committee shall issue voting cards at the time of credentialing.  A voting card shall be provided to each registered member of the conference eligible to vote.  The voting card shall be used to secure an official ballot for the election of NOW-NJ officers.  This card shall be used for floor voting.  Voting cards shall be punched when a ballot is issued.

 Individuals with potentially contested credentials will be permitted to vote; however, their votes will not be counted until validity of their being properly credentialed for the election has been resolved.  In the event of a contested election, ballots will be held for two months by the Elections Committee until the challenge has been settled.

II. Nominating Committee

 The Nominating Committee will accept all nominations prior to the conference and will report names of all eligible candidates to the Conference body.  Nominations for NOW-NJ state officers will not be accepted from the floor of the Conference.  All nominees for the NOW-NJ state officers shall present to the Elections Committee Chair, in writing, their names, addresses, and chapter affiliations, if any.  Each candidate will be given, in a contested election, the option of presenting a platform statement.  Those running for the office of president will have five (5) minutes to speak.  Those running for all other offices will have a maximum of two (2) minutes to make statements.  This time will be followed by a question and answer period, with a maximum of twenty (20) minutes.  Questions should be directed to the office, not to the individual candidate, i.e., questions should be phrased so that all candidates running for a particular office will be able to answer.

 Upon the close of the question and answer period, in the event of an uncontested race for an office, the Conference body may move to accept the nominations for the office by a majority vote.

III. Campaigning

 No one may wear campaign materials while registering or credentialing conference participants or voters.

 Members of the Elections Committee may not wear campaign materials promoting any candidate prior to the announcement of the official election results.

 No electioneering or campaign materials shall be displayed (except on the human body) or distributed within ten feet of the entrance to the polling place, at the credentialing table or on the walls behind the credentialing table, inside the registration and credentialing room(s) if separate room(s) is (are) usedNo campaign materials other than the report of the Nominating Committee may be placed in the conference packet.  The Nominating Committee report shall include one two-sided, 81/2 by 11 sheet listing candidates’ names, as submitted by the candidates.

 IV. Elections Committee

The President shall appoint the Elections Committee with the advice and consent of the NOW-NJ Board.

 The Elections Committee is responsible for observing election procedures, counting ballots, choosing the most appropriate space in which to hold the election, meeting with the conference Parliamentarian to settle any problems, and reporting election results.

 V. Balloting and Counting Ballots

 Duplicate ballots will be issued only upon the surrender of the spoiled ballot.

There shall be enough space so that ballots can be marked in private, and there shall be a place outside the balloting area (at least twenty feet from the ballot box) where all candidates can make themselves available to voters.  If there is no convenient separate room, candidates can place themselves in the hallway.  If there is a convenient place that is too small to hold all candidates, the Elections Committee shall set up a schedule making it available to all candidates equally.

In cases of more than two candidates, preferential balloting is used.

Each candidate will be entitled to choose one poll watcher.  Candidates must submit the name of the poll watcher in writing to the Elections Committee prior to the counting of the ballot.  The poll watcher must be in the counting room when the counting begins; if the watcher leaves prior to the completion of the vote count, she/he may not return to the counting room.  Ballots will be available for inspection by any candidate after the close of the polls and after the counting of the votes by the Elections Committee.  No inspection will be permitted until after the Elections Committee counts the ballots.  At no time during the election may the ballot box be monitored by fewer than two members of the Elections Committee.  The ballot box shall accommodate a single ballot at a time.  Members of the Elections Committee must maintain silence about the election results until the scheduled time of the report of the Elections Committee.                                                                                                                            

VI.  Election Results

 The NOW-NJ officers shall be elected by a majority vote of those duly credentialed members present and voting.  Regardless of the number of candidates running for a particular office, “majority vote” is more than fifty percent (50%) of the votes cast for that office.  The chair of the Elections Committee will report the results of the election to the Conference body, including the number of ballots cast and accounting for all ballots.

 VII. Voting Schedule

 For those offices where the nominees were not accepted by the Conference body by a vote of acclamation, the 2025 schedule is as follows:

 Nominations, statements, questions: Morning Plenary

• Balloting: 11:00-11:30AM
• Runoff election/election results: 11:45 AM

 VIII. Challenges

 Violations of these rules should be promptly reported to the Chair of the Elections Committee.

 Any election challenges will be brought before the Conference body to be settled by a majority vote.

 IX. Additional Rules

 Any declared candidate shall have use of, but not possession of, the complete membership list.  Costs are to be paid by the candidate.  Any declared candidate shall have access to the Leadership List.  NOW-NJ must maintain control of all labels.

 State NOW premises, facilities, and supplies shall not be used for campaign purposes.  Staff persons acting on their own time and at their own expense may campaign for any candidate for NOW-NJ office, but they may not be required to do so.