Convention 2021

Online Meeting Protocol

How to join the meeting

• Everyone who RSVP’d to the General Meeting will receive a link to join a Zoom meeting starting at 12 PM. The password is “phldsa”.
• If you haven’t already, you should download zoom on your computer before the meeting begins.
• It is recommended that you join the meeting from a computer, but a connection by mobile phone is also an option.

How to sign-in to the voting platform

• Only Philly DSA members will be able to log-in to the voting platform, just as in in-person meetings only members get voting credentials.
• Only members who meet the qualifications can vote for the platform & related motions
• Members should sign in to vote at vote.phillydsa.org using the email address associated with your DSA membership (the email address you get emails from Maria Svart at).
• You will receive a link to join the voting platform to the email you used to sign-in.
• If you get an error that says your email is not found, please call Soona at 419.376.2181
  • Please be aware that in an in-person meeting, the credentialing process takes up to half an hour because we have a few volunteers working through a long line of attendees. With this online sign-in process, many more people will get credentialed quicker, but it could also mean that any snags happen simultaneously. We’ll handle all issues as they come in, but just as if it were an in-person meeting, this process is not instantaneous. 
• As in an in-person meeting, credentialing will cut off once the meeting is officially called to order and voting has commenced.

How debate works

• Voting and debate will happen in real-time as the meeting progresses, and members will be able to follow along on your browser. 
• Just as in an in-person meeting, there can only be one question on the floor at a time. 
  • When a motion requiring a vote has been made, the chair will restate the motion and the question will be opened. Voting will be live and you will see the question on your screen with options to vote “yes” or “no”.
  • When no voting is live, you will see the record of past votes, and a menu to join stack.
• The stack menu has the following options that facilitate parliamentary debate like raising your placard would at an in-person general meeting:
  • Stack - for: Join the stack to speak against a main motion.
  • Stack - against: Join the stack to speak against a main motion.
  • Call the question: Calls for debate to close and for the main motion to be brought to a vote. When a question is called, the assembly first votes to call the question, then votes on the main motion itself.
  • Second: To be the second on a motion made before it is voted on.
  • Point of information: Questions for the chair or a member of the assembly, but should always be directed to the chair. 
  • Point of order: Points raised to indicate parliamentary procedure was not followed correctly. 
  • In-person, points of privilege are also allowed for things like “can the speaker step closer to the microphone” or “can the door leading to the loud hallway be shut”, but for the online meeting, we are directing points of privilege to [email protected] and someone will be in touch to help resolve the tech issue. 
• It is recommended that you use the same display name in Zoom as you use on your DSA member registration so that the Chair and parliamentarians can identify the correct speaker to un-mute during the meeting if you are participating in debate.

Tech issues? Email [email protected].