Precinct Committee
Person Information
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How
Who Is A Precinct Committeeman?
A PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN IS THE ONLY
PARTY OFFICIAL DIRECTLY ELECTED BY THE REPUBLICAN VOTERS.
A committeeman and his or her fellow
committeemen represent the Republican party to the people. He or she
is a primary contact between voters, candidates and elected officials.
It is his or her job to make sure the Republicans in their assigned
precincts are informed and prepared to get their vote to the ballot box.
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What Are The
Responsibilities Of a Precinct Committeeman?
A precinct committeeman has many varied responsibilities.
You may be asked to circulate petitions for
Republican candidates and/or to walk your precinct with an elected
official so that he or she may be introduced to your neighbors. The
work you do in your precinct WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS can make the difference
in an election!
Every precinct is different. That is
why it is so important to have active precinct committeemen working with
neighbors to obtain the best results. If you live in rural Arizona,
the nature of your work will be quite different from the work to be done
in urban areas. There are, however, some basic items that need to be
covered no matter where your precinct is located. Elected committee
persons (by ballot) are eligible to vote for official party officers at
county and/or state functions where official balloting for officers takes
place.
THE BASIC TASKS FOR PRECINCT COMMITTEEMEN
1. Elect a precinct captain to assume
overall precinct leadership.
2. Divide your precinct into
geographical areas and assign portions of the precinct to each precinct
committeeman.
3. Recruit precinct volunteers and
assign specific blocks (or areas) to them for door-to-door and telephone
work.
4. Have REGISTRATION FORMS available
in your precinct. Regularly check for newly moved-in Republicans and
also for families who will have members turning 18 years of age before the
next election. (see PC Tools)
5. Maintain up-to-date records of the
current REPUBLICAN residents of your precinct.
(see PC Tools
)
6. Attend precinct meetings.
These are called for updating records, planning strategy and other
organizational purposes.
7. Attend district and or county
Republican meetings. These will be great places to share information
and ideas. (see Home Page - schedule of
events & meetings)
8. Assist your precinct captain in
recruiting election board workers.
9. Assist your precinct captain in
establishing election day GET-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) committees and a
Precinct Election Headquarters.
10. Distribute election information
and candidate literature to the voters in your precinct. (see
PC Tools)
Frequent contact with your neighbors is the
secret to success in a political campaign. Large media campaigns
have a place in the political process, but it is GRASS ROOTS
organization that gets the votes in the ballot box!
Precinct Committeeman's Important Assets
Block workers are volunteers who help
you by keeping track of a small geographical portion of the precinct,
usually their own block of neighbors. Good precinct committeemen
find good block workers!
Election Board Workers are
individuals working as inspectors, judges or clerks at the polls on
election day. They are recommended by you or your precinct captain
through the district and county chairmen for appointment by the County
Division of Elections/Board of Supervisors. The County Boards of
Supervisors fix the compensation for these workers.
Precinct Committeeman's Glossary
Official Roster This is THE
list of registered voters in a precinct as provided by the Voter
Registration County Recorder's Office.
Perfect List This is a list of
voters in a precinct that has been called or contacted to correct any
incorrect information (such as phone numbers, etc) or having moved into or
out of the precinct.
Walking List This is a list
either on computer sheets or on cards that is organized by street numbers.
This information is available from District officials (see
PC Tools).
Yellow Sheets This is a copy of
the list of all persons who have cast a ballot on election day. This
list is available at the polling place with proper identification and is
often prepared by the clerk of the election board.
Block worker This is a volunteer
who is assigned a small geographical area to work in a precinct.
Phone Bank This is a group of
volunteers or paid workers who make a large number of phone calls into
targeted areas, usually to get out the vote, to identify problems or to
establish name identification. (see PC Tools)
Precinct Captain A Precinct
Committeeman who is chosen to lead the other precinct workers in
organizing the work in a precinct.
Absentee or Early Ballot This is an
election ballot which may be requested by mail and voted by mail.
Some voters may need assistance from precinct workers to properly complete
the absentee/early voting process. No reason is necessary to vote by
absentee/early ballot.
(see PC Tools)
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When Is It Appropriate To
Become A Precinct Committeeman?
It is always the right time to
become a precinct committeeman!
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Where does A Precinct "Fit"
Into The Party Structure?
A precinct is the smallest, yet most
important political subdivision in Arizona. Technically, a precinct
is a geographical area established by law for election purposes.
Multiple precincts make up a "district".
Districts are established by the state legislature in accordance with
state law and with attention to registered party affiliations and
geographical considerations.
Districts are lead by District Chairmen and
District Vice Chairmen. The district leaders enlist precinct
committeemen to run for elected positions (if sufficient time exists
before the next primary election) or appoint them (if insufficient time
exists before the next primary election). (See "What?"
above for the significance of elected vs. appointed committeemen.)
District leadership is defined by the county
party organization, which in turn is defined by state party leadership.
Each Precinct in Arizona is entitled to one
(1) Precinct Committeeman from each major political party. An
additional committeeman is authorized for every 125 voters or major
fraction thereof registered in the party in the precinct as reported on
March 1st. of the general election year.
"Divide the country into
small districts and . . . . .
appoint in each a
subcommittee.
Make a perfect list of all
the voters and
ascertain with certainty for
whom they will vote.
Keep a current watch on the
doubtful voters
and have them talked to by
those in whom they have the most confidence.
and on election day see that
every Whig is brought to the polls."
Abraham Lincoln, 1840
(The father of the modern
Republican Party.)
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Why Become A Precinct
Committeeman?
Many registered Republicans
ask this question.
Often we assume that since we
are registered Republicans; follow party happenings in the various media
outlets and vote regularly for qualified Republican candidates, we are
doing all we can to further the party's goals.
There is a way to do more!
By becoming a Republican Precinct Committeeman you can
take that next step - the pro-active one - in spreading the great
republican principles of lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, individual
freedom and strong national defense.
Being a precinct committeeman means being THE most
direct contact point for fellow Republicans in your immediate
neighborhood. A precinct committeeman can be the first line of
defense when it comes to information accumulation and dissemination within
the Precinct.
As a precinct committeeman you will have the opportunity
to attend many party functions. From regular district meetings
(see events and activities on the home page) to county meetings and
state meetings; you will be kept abreast of party activities and issues.
Your can be "in the know" to a much greater extent than just being a loyal
Republican voter. You can acquire specific and accurate information
regarding party positions and policies to "counter" the misinformation so
often spread about Republicans by our opposition. YOU too can be an
opinion MAKER within the Republican party structure of the State of
Arizona.
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How Do I Become A Precinct
Committeeman?
Openings
for precinct committeemen are filled in one of two ways:
(option 1)
candidates running for offices
in the primary elections every two years
or
(option 2)
appointment by the district
leadership.
During a primary election, each major
political party selects its candidates for the upcoming general election
AS WELL AS its precinct committeemen. Most committeemen are selected
by this process (option 1 above) , while some may be appointed to fill
vacant positions which may exist between primary elections (option 2
above).
If there are more candidates for precinct
committeeman than there are vacancies, the ones receiving the highest
number of votes in the precinct are elected. TO RETAIN OFFICE,
CURRENT COMMITTEEMEN MUST RUN FOR REELECTION EVERY TWO (2) YEARS.
If you would like to discuss becoming
a Precinct Committee Person with an official of the Maricopa County
Republican Party, please click
here.
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