SAN FRANCISCO GREEN PARTY ENDORSEMENT POLICY
Adopted by the GM on 1/18/06

A. General Provisions

The SF Green Party may endorse a candidate for office at any time,
however most candidate endorsements will occur following the filing
deadline for the seats being contested.  The SF Green Party shall
initiate the endorsement process for candidates appearing on any San
Francisco ballot line.  Candidates not appearing on San Francisco's
ballot line may approach the SF Green Party for an endorsement.

The endorsement process may consist of candidate questionnaires, in-
person interviews/presentations by the candidate and a decision made
at a scheduled and publicly noticed General Membership meeting as
specified in the bylaws.

The San Francisco Green Party will entertain applications for early
endorsement only from registered Green candidates that have filed an
intent to run.  This process can be informal or follow more
traditional approval procedures.

Priority will be given to candidates who complete the questionnaire.

B. Partisan races

The SF Green Party may only endorse Green Party candidates in Green
Party primary races and shall not endorse in any other political
parties' primaries.

In the case of contested Green Party primaries, the SF Green Party may
endorse one Green candidate over another.  Until any endorsement is
made in a Green primary, however, the party must treat all candidates
in that race equally and maintain a neutral position until the
endorsement is made.

The Party shall honor NOTA when it comes in first in a primary.  The
party may consider endorsements for the general election in the case
where there has been no endorsement in the primary or the endorsed
candidate was not nominated in the primary.

If the Party endorses in the primary and that candidate wins, that
ndorsement carries over into the general election.  The party may
affirmatively make "no endorsement" over a primary victor or endorse a
candidate other than the victor by endorsement thresholds specified in
the bylaws.

C. Non-partisan Races

Green Party registration is no guarantee for any candidate of the SF
Green Party's endorsement.

A timeline for the endorsement process for local candidates will be
set to start after the filing deadlines for each local office.  The
endorsement timeline shall be published.

The party may, for the purposes of efficiency, issue questionnaires or
schedule or conduct interviews prior to the close of the nomination
period but final action on endorsement is discouraged until after the
filing deadline.

IRV/RCV

The party may make as many ranked choices, including None Of The Above
(NOTA) as the voting system supports.  Early endorsements should not
be ranked until the filing deadline has passed.  Candidates who
receive an unranked early endorsement must reflect any subsequent
rankings rapidly and accurately when scheduling literature print runs
between unranked early endorsement and final ranking .  Candidates
must clearly indicate their ranked endorsement in electioneering
communication as soon as the endorsement rank is determined.

One method of conducting an IRV/RCV endorsement is specified in
Appendix A.

D. Relationship between party and candidate:

The San Francisco Green Party may grant access to the following
resources only to endorsed candidates or the Green Party's nominee
(i.e., primary election winner) in partisan races.

    . Use of the SFGP office
    . Office equipment
    . Access to computers
    . Use of SFGP volunteer and donor databases
    . Participation in our outreach efforts
    . Promotion on the SFGP website and email newsletter
    . Placement of campaign literature in the office and at the party's
      tables and information booths at events (see exception below)
    . Featured speaking at official Green Party events and functions.

Endorsement and nomination do not guarantee access to SFGP resources
or assistance for a campaign.

The Green Party shall make space available for the literature of
unendorsed Green candidates that shall be clearly designated as "not
endorsed" and divided equitably and fairly amongst all interested
candidates.

Only the County Council or general membership may grant access to
volunteer and donor databases.

Until an endorsement or nomination is made in any race, the party must
remain neutral and treat all Green candidates in each campaign
equitably and fairly.  If the Party grants access to resources to any
unendorsed or unnominated Green candidate, then it must grant
equitable access to all Green candidates in that election.