Below are our guidelines and bylaws.
SFWPC Endorsements – Endorsement Process
Endorsements Primary Contacts:
PAC Co-Chairs Angelina angelina@sfwpc.org & Chelsey chelsey@sfwpc.org
The SFWPC endorsement process
- Questionnaires and interviews. Every candidate running for a seat must fill out a questionnaire in order to be considered for an interview. The endorsement committee will review questionnaires and select candidates and ballot measure representatives that will be invited for interviews. If a candidate invited for an interview cannot attend on the date specified, a proxy may be sent in their place.
- Endorsement committee recommendations. The endorsements committee is made up of board members and club members. The committee will vote to recommend candidates or positions on measures based on questionnaires and interview responses. Committee members affiliated with or employed by a certain campaign may participate in discussions but must abstain from the vote on that race. Committee recommendations are determined by simple majority of those present and eligible to vote for a particular race. Committee recommendations will be determined after interviews and will be communicated to candidates the following day. The committee’s recommended candidates and positions will be noted as such on the ballot provided to the general membership at the endorsement vote event if in person (see www.facebook.com/SFWPC for dates and details), or electronically if held online.
- General membership vote. The general membership vote determines which candidates and positions on measures will be endorsed by SFWPC. The ballot includes all candidates vying for a particular race; SFWPC Endorsement Committee vote recommendations are indicated in bold.
Only eligible SFWPC members can vote in the endorsement process. Eligible members must: 1) be current on their dues as of the endorsement vote event, and 2) have attended and signed in at two endorsement eligibility events prior to the vote event. Endorsement eligibility events are noted as such in communications, and designated on SFWPC’s website and Facebook page. The vote event itself does not count towards the two-event requirement.
If you have any questions about your membership status, please contact SFWPC Membership Co-Chairs Malaika Kirkwood and Mona Barber at membership@sfwpc.org.
Counting ballots and vote thresholds
For all non-RCV candidates, and issue/ballot measure races, a simple majority of the votes cast (50%+1) for that particular race is necessary to secure endorsement. For Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), the candidate who receives the highest number of votes in each rank shall be determined to have won that rank.
For single-choice, multiple-candidate races (College Board, School Board), the number of choices on the ballot will match the number of seats available. The highest vote-getter will receive the endorsement.
All ballots will be reviewed. Ballots will include one race per page to minimize chance of human error. We will use RCV for mayoral and supervisorial races. RCV races will be hand-counted using the procedures outlined in the Endorsement Guidelines.
Results
We will notify campaigns of the results within 24 hours of the vote using the contact information provided on the questionnaire or info sheet. We will notify membership via email, social media, and on our website.
Only final endorsements are announced. Vote tallies are never released.
Endorsements Policy
The San Francisco Women’s Political Committee stands for the rights of all women and girls — whether they be gender fluid, transgender, or cisgender. We also condemn the scare tactics frequently used against the transgender community by conservatives, as well as so-called “trans-exclusive radical feminists” or TERFs. The San Francisco Women’s Political Committee expects that all candidates who receive its endorsement support the rights of all women, and commit to unequivocally condemning transmisogyny and other oppressions.
Furthermore, the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee condemns negative campaigning, as it suppresses female voter turnout. SFWPC will not engage in any negative campaigning, nor will it allow for its name to be used in negative political ads. Use of SFWPC’s names in attack ads, mailers, or other negative campaigning may result in revocation of the committee’s endorsement.
For reference: