Thread by @lyman_brian

Looks like we're getting underway at the Alabama Democratic Party meeting. I'll try to keep all my tweets on the meeting in this thread. #alpolitics

Obligatory reminder about this bylaw fight from southern political expert Dr. Manhattan. #alpolitics

We start with Worley telling those with signs to lay them down, "or security will take them." Amid cries of "why," Worley says it's a security issue. "It's not a safety issue," someone yells. #alpolitics

(For what it's worth, people holding signs are, at this point, still holding them.) #alpolitics

Now going through a credential check for members of the SDEC. #alpolitics

"They fussed at us from the last meeting," Worley says, referring to the credential check. (The party was ordered to hold new leadership elections.) #alpolitics

Worley welcomes everyone and immediately Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, rises for a point of order. Joined by many other cries. #alpolitics

England chaired the committee meeting last week that approved the new bylaws approved by the DNC. Worley says she will acknowledge them after she gets through "Roman Numeral I" and talks about how exciting it is to be in a Shriner's Temple. #alpolitics

Worley praises election of Steven Reed as first African-American mayor of Montgomery. Gets a standing ovation from the floor. England is still standing, apparently to ensure his point of order is recognized. #alpolitics

(Mayor-elect Reed is the son of Joe Reed, the vice-chair for minority affairs of the ADP and a power in the state party -- and an ally of Worley's.) #alpolitics

Worley also praises the election of Talladega Mayor-elect Timothy Ragland. Second standing ovation. So yeah, pretty sure all these folks are Democrats. #alpolitics

England renews point of order. Worley is trying to move onto the prayer. And so we move onto the invocation. "You're out of order" heard from the SDEC members. #alpolitics

Immediately after the prayer, point of order renewed by Chris England. Parliamentarian rules that it is out of order because we are in the ceremonial portion of the meeting. England says a quorum cannot be established until SDEC understands what bylaws we're operating under.

Roll call of membership. Told there are 161 members of the SDEC present. #alpolitics

Things quiet at the moment as roll is called. I assume those point of order calls will renew ASAP. Sit tight. #alpolitics

As a reminder, 78 members of the SDEC approved new bylaws last week (30 members are required to be present). The DNC warned the party to follow those new bylaws. England and allies are trying to get the leadership to address a point of order on that. #alpolitics

Presiding officer called out Rep. England's name twice. "I'm here," he replied. "I had the point of order." When Sen. Vivian Davis Figures' name was called, she added "and he has a point of order." #alpolitics

Side note as the roll call continues: Several volunteers from Democratic presidential campaigns were outside gathering signatures for their preferred candidates. #alpolitics

Harold Ickes from the DNC is here and taking notes. #alpolitics

Any parliamentarians out there who can say whether points of order are valid during ceremonial portions of a meeting? Also, is there a specific definition for ceremonial portion? #alpolitics

Roll call finishes and Rep. England immediately renews his point of order. Worley, ignoring him for now, declares 161 members present: "That is certainly a quorum no matter whose bylaws you're going by." #alpolitics

Worley moves to approve the August 2018 meeting minutes -- she does not recognize last week's meeting. Amid many points of order, Worley first calls on someone besides Rep. England, who immediately defers to England. #alpolitics

A lot of crosstalk and yelling from the floor. England approaching the front of the auditorium to make his point. #alpolitics

England noting the majority of the membership called the meeting. She says the petition for that meeting never came to her. "That is not in the bylaws," England replies. #alpolitics

"Are we operating under the bylaws that were adopted on Oct. 5?" England asks. Some back and forth "yes" and "no" on the floor. #alpolitics

Worley: "We could be operating under both." Howls of laughter from the floor. #alpolitics

England repeats his question and says "it's a simple yes or no question." Worley: "I don't even recognize the Oct. 5 meeting because no one invited me or petitioned me." England repeats his question as to whether they're operating under Oct. 5 bylaws. #alpolitics

Worley says she believes they are operating under old bylaws, but says they will settle it during business period. England says that if they are operating under old bylaws, the meeting is in violation of DNC orders. #alpolitics

Worley is moving on to get minutes approved. England renews point of order, and Worley suggests she will ask him to leave. England: "Our main issue with this party is we don't follow rules." Worley: "You may be seated or you may leave." #alpolitics

House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, got up to support. There is a motion to adjourn on the floor. #alpolitics

There will be a standing vote to adjourn after the voice vote is uncertain. #alpolitics

There are cries of roll call. Now a roll call will take place. #alpolitics

Now there's a call for a paper ballot. Worley says there are no paper ballots prepared. #alpolitics

Another woman is at the front of the stage and just spoke to the leadership. They're calling roll but there is a lot of murmuring on the floor. #alpolitics

We are calling roll on the motion to adjourn. #alpolitics

However this turns out I do not expect the result to inspire quiet resignation. #alpolitics

One man sung out his "No" on the motion to adjourn. Still calling votes. #alpolitics

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures responded by singing out her "yes" on the motion to adjourn. Another woman yelled "Lord Jesus, yes." #alpolitics

We're still calling the roll on the adjournment motion. #alpolitics

I think we're counting the votes now. There are questions about whether some people voted for other people. #alpolitics

Worley moves to adopt the minutes of the August 2018 minutes -- and again, points of order ring from the crowd. Worley holds the vote until the adjournment motion. She is going to recognize deceased Democrats. #alpolitics

We are still counting votes and still recognizing Democrats who passed away in the past year. #alpolitics

So if this adjournment motion fails I think we're in for a long day. #alpolitics

Adjournment motion fails 88 to 73. We continue with the meeting. #alpolitics

We move to adopt the minutes. There's a point of order on the floor. I can't quite hear the objection but it seems to have to do with the challenges. #alpolitics

The challenges to the leadership election that took place. There are people on the floor demanding to hear the objection, but Worley moving on to financial report. Woman in guest section yells "where did you get the money" and SDEC member yells "you are not a member." #alpolitics

Woman in the guest section yells "you ought to be fired" at Worley. #alpolitics

Now a request for information from the floor -- specifically, how much the party has spent on legal defense, and how much money has been raised by the party in the last year. #alpolitics

Worley: "We wouldn't have to spend any legal fees if we didn't have challenges filed. When you ahve challenges filed you have to deal with those." Said she cannot give exact dollar amount on legal fees. #alpolitics

We're having a second vote to accept the minutes from the August 2018. Aaaaaaaand ... another roll call? #alpolitics

Looks like a no on the roll call on the minutes. #alpolitics

Renewed question from the floor about how much money the party has raised in the last year: Worley: "Not very much money, because it's very difficult to get from folks when you're the minority party." #alpolitics

Now complaint from a member that SDEC guests yelling on voice vote. Now an appeal to the chair, saying a roll call needs only 25% of the vote. Worley says there were not 40 people who stood up. (More murmuring and crosstalk). #alpolitics

Now another member of the SDEC is chiding the guests for being "emotional." "If you are a guest and you are not able to vote, do not say no or yes to any vote taken on the floor." Asks for removal of guests who do so. #alpolitics

Getting officer reports now. Worley says she wants to limit speeches to 2-3 minutes. #alpolitics

England last week said he thought the odds of ending up in court were "100%" and based on what we've seen this morning it's easy to believe. #alpolitics

Joe Reed, the vice-chair of minority affairs, now speaking. Reports the filling of a vacancy. And that seems to be it. #alpolitics

There's a point of order about filling the vacancies, which (under new bylaws) require a vote by the full SDEC. "When you ignore these bylaws and the DNC's orders, we're risking our participation in the DNC convention." #alpolitics

The bylaws adopted last week require that those SDEC members nominated by diversity caucuses need to be approved by a full vote of the SDEC (though a two-thirds vote is needed to reject nominees). #alpolitics

Worley seems to be pushing forward regardless. Says the full body is voting on the nomination. #alpolitics

Now a point of order about how SDEC members seated by the minority caucus were determined. The yelling is swelling up again. #alpolitics

It sounds like we're getting a motion to reject those seated at the August 2018 meeting -- which has led to the orders from the DNC to hold new leadership elections. Worley says she cannot take procedure for at-large members. #alpolitics

Speaker got up to remind members of the SDEC that the meeting is being streamed live. "That's good," someone yells from the floor. #alpolitics

Now a motion to approve the minutes of the Oct. 5 meeting. Worley says she does not have copies. Man making motion offers to submit minutes to Worley, but she reasserts that it is not an official meeting. Now she's moving to suspend adoption of those minutes indefinitely.

We're pushing forward on this. England is up again demanding a point of order. We have a standing vote now. #alpolitics

Aaaaaaaaannndd another roll call. England is demanding another point of order. #alpolitics

England: "The act of postponing minutes from a previous meeting means you have acknowledged the meeting occurred. You have also acknowledged it occurred under the rules ... you have actually substantiated the call for it." #alpolitics

Someone is heckling England: He's talking back: "What have you done but talk today?" #alpolitics

Worley is arguing she never received an invitation to the October 5. She says they are "postponing indefinitely anything on Oct. 5" arguing it was invalid. England asks how you can have a motion on an item you don't officially recognize. #alpolitics

England wants to know if the SDEC will take a vote to rescind the Oct. 5 bylaws. Worley: "The answer to you is we are not considering at this time those bylaws." Says we will get to them. #alpolitics

Now we have a motion to allow Harold Ickes to speak to the State Democratic Executive Committee. Worley says it requires "unanimous consent." #alpolitics

There are objections to Ickes speaking. #alpolitics

Now we're going up to the filling of vacancies on the SDEC. DNC Chair Tom Perez specifically told Alabama Democratic Party officials this week not to do that. #alpolitics

Jack Jacobs, a member of the SDEC, points out Perez's instructions and asks why we are proceeding. Worley appears to be ignoring Jacobs' point and moving to nominations. #alpolitics

Jacobs moves to hold any votes. Worley rules it out of order. Jacobs makes a motion to adjourn. Worley not listening to Jacobs and moving forward with nominations. #alpolitics

Another man on the floor making a nomination "recognizing it is in violation of the DNC charter and bylaws." #alpolitics

Brian McGee elected to the SDEC for House District 38. The party has officially thumbed its nose at the DNC. #alpolitics

We're having more elections, and the likely outcomes are a court fight or a bunch of Democrats not going to Milwaukee next year. #alpolitics

We're in another standing vote, this time on a nominee to fill a vacancy. The way this goes:
-- First, voice vote
-- Then, members stand to indicate preferences if voice vote uncertain
-- Then, roll call if call for it.
-- Then, we're here 'til midnight #alpolitics

We just spoke with Harold Ickes of the DNC -- and yeah, the DNC isn't thrilled with what's happening this afternoon. #alpolitics

Essentially, if the state party is in violation of the DNC's orders, the DNC will refuse to seat any delegates elected in next March's presidential primary in Alabama. The state's delegate selection plan is in limbo, and Ickes made it clear this won't help with that. #alpolitics

Ickes: "(Worley's) made it very clear she’s not recognizing the bylaws adopted last week by the state committee. The proceedings here – I doubt that they will be recognized by the DNC." #alpolitics

There was another motion to adjourn and Worley does not recognize it. #alpolitics

A man on the floor is reading the bylaws adopted last week. Worley is ruling him out of order. He says he has the floor, but Worley says "We do not read bylaws front to back." #alpolitics

We're now talking bylaws. Worley said this week they SDEC would consider several different proposals. The DNC to this point has only given its consent to one set of bylaws, approved at the meeting last week. #alpolitics

Speaker now saying "Eveyrthing you have done is in violation of the DNC charter. Worley asks him to state it as question. He asks how many times the state party has violated the DNC charter in the last year. Worley: "I have no idea." #alpolitics

Just said on the floor: "You can not move to stop a motion that hasn't come up yet." #alpolitics

The Oct. 5 bylaws are before the body. Woman says they have already been adopted. Worley: "They have not been adopted by this body." England is asking if this is an attempt to repeal the bylaws. Worley says she never called that meeting. #alpolitics

Worley: "There's nothing to rescind because we didn't adopt them." England moves to adopt the bylaws. #alpolitics

The argument from supporters of the Oct. 5 bylaws is that they were adopted under a properly constituted meeting of the SDEC, under the bylaws of the party. #alpolitics

England tried to withdraw motion; Worley said it can't be withdrawn after a second; England disputes that. Someone on the floor said it would take a two-thirds vote of the body to rescind the bylaws. #alpolitics

England is currently speaking with the parliamentarian. #alpolitics

There appears to be a motion to put a set of "leadership bylaws" up for a vote, but there's a discussion as to whether this would substitute England's motion, and a lot of talk of Roman numerals. I've never done drugs but parliamentary procedure must be close to it. #alpolitics

Question as to whether the "leadership bylaws" have gotten DNC approval. If not, the DNC will not accept them. #alpolitics

There was another move to get Harold Ickes to speak on the status of the bylaws. Worley said that has already ruled on. #alpolitics

Jack Jacobs gets up, says he's spoken to Ickes himself, who said these rules have not been approved by the DNC. #alpolitics

OK. If I haven't totally lost my mind, we're now voting to substitute England's motion with the leadership bylaws. #alpolitics

The substituting motion looks like it will prevail. #alpolitics

Worley appears to have taken that as approval of the leadership bylaws. There were cries of points of order, and Worley corrects herself. #alpolitics

The vote on the substitute motion was 126 to 8, which means a little over 25 people have either wandered into the lobby or left the property since we started today. #alpolitics

There is an amendment being offered to the bylaws before the body. After a lengthy explanation of the amendment, Worley rules it out of order. #alpolitics

Now a point being argued that the proposed bylaws are out of order due to approval of Oct. 5 bylaws. Supporters of the Oct. 5 bylaws are arguing that approving these bylaws would require a two-thirds vote of the body because it would be rescinding bylaws. #alpolitics

Also: There's an argument that Worley violated the bylaws she's operating under today, because she didn't meet deadlines set out under there. #alpolitics

Aaaaaaaand we're getting a roll call vote on the approval of these bylaws.

I see the Fordham-Georgetown game is close. #alpolitics

So just a reminder: We're voting on bylaws submitted by current leadership of the Alabama Democratic Party, which opponents say were submitted in violation of the old bylaws the leadership is trying to operate under today. #alpolitics

And also: SDEC members had a meeting last week to ratify new, DNC-approved bylaws, which Worley does not consider an official meeting and is not recognizing. #alpolitics

Vote on the leadership bylaws is finished and they're tallying the totals. #alpolitics

Joe Reed is speaking to the body urging them to spare no effort getting people elected. Still waiting on the vote totals. #alpolitics

Worley says leadership bylaws adopted 80 to 73. That's a significant larger number than the number who voted on the substitute motion. #alpolitics

Now there's a motion to cancel the Nov. 2 meeting -- which, again, was set at meeting Worley does not actually consider official. #alpolitics

I assume that if you didn't consider the actions of a meeting official, you could simply ignore it. England is calling for a point of order. #alpolitics

Again, Worley seems to be implicitly acknowledging the legitimacy of a meeting she spent the last few weeks calling ad hoc, unofficial, or illegitimate. #alpolitics

Now Fred Gray Jr. moves to cancel the Nov. 2 and move it to Nov. 16 meeting -- and again, the whole argument of leadership for the past week has been that the Oct. 5 meeting that set that date was not official. #alpolitics

England: "Why are we attempting to suspend or reschedule a meeting that you said was invalidly called?" #alpolitics

Worley: "I have not called a meeting, and I'm telling you for information a hold has been put on a venue for the 16th." England says it takes a two-thirds vote to rescind the call. Worley says that has not been recognized. #alpolitics

England: "The rules require a two-thirds vote." Worley: "You point has been addressed." England demands a quorum call, but Worley ignores him. #alpolitics

Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Prichard, now up, repeating England's point that Worley has refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Oct. 5. #alpolitics

Just shouting now. Literal shouting. #alpolitics

Worley called a voice vote in the midst of that shouting and declared a motion passed. #alpolitics

Declaration from the floor that there is not a quorum. Worley: "There is definitely a quorum." Worley says there's a "low quorum." #alpolitics

Now a motion on the floor to suspend legal payments. ruled out of order. Shouting into microphones. #alpolitics

Worley suddenly entertains a motion to adjourn amid shouting on both sides of the auditorium, and declares the meeting adjourned.

I'm not exaggerating. An absolutely chaotic ending. #alpolitics

OK. Gonna write something on this. To all of you who tuned in: Bless you. #alpolitics