Become a member: Orange County Republican Executive Committee (OCREC)
Next OCREC meeting is October 20, 2022 at 6:30PM at the Marks Street Senior Center in Orlando
This is a long entry, but chock full of information:
There are many open precinct committeeman/woman positions if you are interested in joining the Orange County Republican Executive Committee (OCREC).
You must be a member to vote and/or run for an Executive Board position
How to become a member
Chairman and Secretary obligations to complete your membership
Am I a member?
There are many open precinct committeeman/woman positions if you are interested in joining OCREC.
Here in Orange County, the Republican Executive Committee (OCREC) is the official organization of the Republican Party. By law, there are currently 956 committeemen positions and 956 committeewomen positions, for a total of 1,912 total seats. Many people are surprised to hear that less than 15% of the positions in Orange County are actually filled. In other words more than 85% of the seats are open.
Rule 5D of the Republican Part of Florida (RPOF) Rules of Procedure provide for the filling of these vacancies:
What does a committeeman/woman do? Check out this short video for an overview:
The Precinct Strategy.com Promotional Video 1 minute
You must be a member to vote and/or run for an Executive Board position
Every 2 years OCREC holds elections for all Executive Board positions. This includes Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. The current Executive Board members were elected in December of 2020. The term for these positions expire in December 2022.
If you want to vote in the December 2022 election (or run for an Executive Board position), you have to be a member in good standing. If you are new, that means you must be elected as an OCREC precinct committeeman/woman before the December meeting AND the Chairman and Secretary must fulfill their duties and submit all new member information to the appropriate authorities (more on that below - don’t skip that part).
My suggestion is that you attend the September 22 meeting (6PM at the Marks Street Senior Center in Orlando) so you can start the membership process. OCREC has not met since May 26, 2022. There is NO guarantee OCREC will meet October and/or November. For an explanation, please see my Substack article:
How to become a member
If you are interested in joining OCREC there are a few steps to follow:
You must be a registered Republican in Orange County. You must be a registered Republican for at least 365 days.
Make sure you know your Voter ID number. You can check here: https://www.ocfelections.com/check-my-info
There must be an open position in your precinct (chances are there are open seats).
You must complete 3 forms:
Orange County Republican Executive Committee Membership Application
Candidate Oath - This form must be notarized. If you come to an OCREC meeting I will notarize it free of charge.
NOTE: This is Florida Department of State, Division of Elections form DS-DE 305CM. (The form says it was updated 4/20, but the download file is dated August 2021). The latest version is available on the DOE website Forms page. Make sure you have the latest version.
Republican Party of Florida Loyalty Oath - This needs to be witnessed (I can do that too).
NOTE: This version of the form was updated 6.11.2022 and provided by the RPOF. Make sure you have the latest version - ask!
NOTE: These are the same forms found on the OCREC Membership Paperwork page
Attend an OCREC general meeting (at which time you can submit your membership paperwork originals) and then you will be eligible to attend the subsequent new member meeting.
Then you will be notified and can attend a new member meeting (training session) required by OCREC.
Then you will be up for election at the next OCREC meeting. Yes, you will be an elected official in Orange County. You cannot vote the night you are elected. You must be present when new members are elected - this is typically late in the meeting, so please plan accordingly.
Jim Ford (jford1533@gmail.com) is the OCREC Membership Committee Chairman and is a great resource if you have questions.
You can attend OCREC meetings even if you are not a member. It’s a great way to see things for yourself.
NOTE: Committeemen/women are required to attend meetings and can be removed after 3 consecutive unexcused absences.
Chairman and Secretary obligations to complete your membership
According to the OCREC Constitution: “Any member of Orange County Republican Executive Committee shall not be deemed a member until the candidate oath (pursuant to F.S. 99.021) has been signed and filed in the office of the Supervisor of Elections and the Republican Party loyalty oath (pursuant to Rule 9) has been filed with the Chairman of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee, who shall cause the original Party loyalty oath to be forwarded to the Republican Party of Florida within thirty (30) days.”
Here’s a screen shot from the OCREC Constitution with the details:
You can see the entire OCREC Constitution on my Substack:
The implication is that these documents need to be filed to activate your membership.
Let’s review:
The Candidate Oath must be filed with the Orange County Supervisor of elections (SOE) by the Chairman or his or her desginee within 30 days.
The Chairman or his or her desginee provides an updated list of names and addresses of OCREC officers and members within 30 days of their election to the SOE.
The Chairman send the original signed party Loyalty Oaths to the RPOF within 30 days.
The Chairman provides an updated list of members to RPOF within 30 days.
Am I a member?
This may seem a bit strange, but as of the posting of this article I am not sure all of the 4 steps have been completed for me. I was voted in/elected at an OCREC meeting in 2021, but I cannot get my membership verified as described above.
The Orange County SOE does not list me, or any committeeman/woman elected after December 2020 as a member. I filed a Candidate Oath with the SOE on my own and have a timestamped copy as proof.
I have been unable to obtain confirmation of my membership from RPOF. I did submit an updated Party Loyalty Oath to RPOF (the original with an ink signature - I also had it notarized), but without confirmation from the OCREC Chairman that I am on the official list, I cannot say for sure what my status is.
It may seem strange to you, it sure is to me.
Therefore, in order to verify my membership, and provide confidence to all members and prospective members, I am proposing 2 resolutions for the September OCREC meeting. You can read them in another Substack entry:
As you can see resolutions have been submitted well before the deadline for submission. I am hopeful that the Executive Board includes each in the meeting agenda.
Will I see you at the October meeting?
In the meantime, I am happy to answer questions, please feel free to reach out.
Become a member: Orange County Republican Executive Committee (OCREC)
Hello- Wendy Nissan suggested I contact you regarding membership. I have printed the various forms and plan to bring to next meeting. Cannot find info about time and venue for next meeting - but I believe it will be Jan 19 2023. Hopefully communication will improve for people seeking to become Precinct Committemen or Committeewomen.
Will notary be present at meeting?
Kind thanks,
Fleta Collins
Outstanding will post it to kingdom come! Tks!