It's time to get into the details.
If you are reading this and you had not previously known how this county election process works, then it is important for you to read the ACTUAL RULES of the Republican Party of Kentucky. As of the writing of this, the latest rules are the following:
http://www.rpk.org//wp-content/uploads/2021/03/RPK-Rules-Amended-by-Exec.-Comm.-3.27.21-.pdf
NOTE: Those rules will be modified at least one more time before the dates for precinct elections are announced.
You will want to review sections 4 and 5 of the rules, which you will find on pages 13 to 16. This will cover the County and Precinct officers.
If you are up for some more reading you will then want to read 6.01 to 6.06 found on pages 16-18. This explains the election process.
IMPORTANT: The references to dates from January to March ARE GOING TO CHANGE due to covid. No one knows, at the time of this writing what those new dates will be. There is talk of June. As soon as we know, we will let you know which why it is important to click the "Join the Cause" button at the top right of this page. By giving us your information and email address, we can email you and let you know once those dates have been made known. We will also announce them on the home page of the site but each county is given a time period in which to hold those dates and locations and they will be different for every county.
Section 6 puts the current County Chairman in charge of the elections.
Do you know who your County Chairman is?
You can find your County Chairman here: http://www.rpk.org/local-gop/
Scroll down and type in the name of your County in the "county search" option. Alternatively you can select your county from a list at the bottom of that page. Once you select your county, your county's information should appear and list the names of the County Chair (chairman) and Vice Chair. You should be given either their phone number or email address or both.
Have you ever attended a meeting of your County Committee?
If you have, you will probably know this, but if your haven't then it is important to read paragraph 4.08 on page 14.
County Committees have the option of electing an Executive Committee to run the party operation in your county. Precinct officers who become the County Committee should be VERY CAREFUL about electing an Executive Committee because if that is done they will GIVE UP their voting rights to the members of the executive committee (why would you do that?). Once again, if you do that you will delegate your voting rights to the members of the Executive Committee and have no further say. Worse, there is very little incentive to add precinct officers where there are vacancies during the rest of the 4 year cycle. And finally, IF you elect an executive committee, you cannot go back to a County Committee until the next precinct elections in 4 years.
NOTE what the rules say: . In the event that such an Executive Committee is elected it shall thereafter function in place of the County Committee until a new County Committee takes office as provided in Section 6.
If you become a precinct officer (captain) DO NOT BE PRESSURED TO CREATE AN EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. (Jefferson and Fayette counties have local rules REQUIRING the use of an Executive Committee. Funny how those two counties are the most "democrat" controlled areas of Kentucky; think about it).
Remember, the rules say: The new County Committee may or may not decide to create an Executive Committee.
So the first question you might want to ask your County Chairman is:
Is the Republican Party in our County governed by a "County Committee" or an "Executive Committee". Send them an email and ask. If they will not respond, contact us at info@takeovergop.com and we will have further advice on how to get that information from them.
Once you have been told which structure you have, you will want to ask when the next meeting of that committee is being held and if Republicans NOT on the committee are welcome to attend and watch. If you are allowed to attend, make an effort to attend the next meeting. Learn what is going on in your County's Republican committee.
If your county operates as a County Committee, ask for the names of the precinct officers in your precinct.
Do not be surprised if there are currently no precinct captains in your precinct. There are more vacancies than not.
How do you find out what precinct you are in?
The secretary of state is promising to provide that ability on the secretary of state website but as for now that does not work. The best way to learn what precinct you are in is to go to this website to obtain the contact information for your County Clerk.
https://kentuckycountyclerks.com/
Once you get your county clerk's info, call your county clerk's office and tell them that you want to know the number and name of your precinct.
Also ask if you can obtain a map of your precinct, so you can see what streets are in your precinct.
EXAMPLE: I live in Jessamine County and this is my county's precinct map:
https://jessamineco.com/PDF/jessamineprecinctmap.pdf
From that map I can zoom in and see the area and streets that make up my precinct. I also have access to even better maps of each precinct in the county.
NOTE: You can learn more about your county's precincts and the number of Repubicans in your precinct by visiting this page:
https://elect.ky.gov/Resources/Pages/Registration-Statistics.aspx
Look for the third link which offers the most current report "By Precinct". That report, which is over 160 pages long, lists each county alphabetically, and then under that county it lists each precint in that county by number and name. Next to that precinct will be the number of Republicans in your precinct (as well as the number of other registered voters).
How do you get a list of voters in your precinct(s)?
Voter lists are available and you can learn more about obtaining those here:
https://elect.ky.gov/requestforvoterreg/Pages/default.aspx
If your county chairman is friendly and supportive of your interest in running to be a precinct officer, and being involved in your county's political process (NOT ALL WILL BE FRIENDLY) they may have access to a service used by Republican politicians to obtain phone lists and walking lists. The service that was used for the last election is call the "Republican Voter Vault". Personally, when I order those lists I ask for a full list for my county, which includes ALL registered voters. The list is provided in an excel spreadsheet and gives information such as names, party affiliation, phone numbers, addresses, which precincts the voter is in and their voting activity (do they vote in every election or just some). When you are reaching out to voters, looking for support to be elected as a precinct officer, this is invaluable.
How can you reach out to voters?
Personal contact is important. I personally prefer to make phone calls and in the last election spoke personally to about 1,500 voters. Other volunteers prefer to go door to door. It is important to work from a list and only reach out to Republicans in your precinct (for the purpose of precinct elections). If you are looking to make phone calls I would be happy to share the phone script that I have developed for the calls that I will be making starting in March. Just email me (Bob Barney) at:
or you call me toll free at 888-798-3488