New Chapter Chartering

New CYD chapters were chartered at the June 2025 State Leadership Committee meeting - but we are still accepting applications for newly-chartered clubs!

Any new chapter that is not currently chartered may submit their application at any point for review and consideration at the next statewide meeting of the California Young Democrats. If you have questions, please contact CYD VP of Membership Maiya De La Rosa at membership@cayoungdems.org.

Introduction

California Young Democrats (CYD) is a youth-led statewide organization composed of local chapters and statewide caucuses. Membership with CYD provides automatic membership to the Young Democrats of America (YDA). Through this local-to-national model, Young Democrats from all parts of the state and country join together to advance progressive ideals, support common goals, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

Each year, CYD requires new and existing chapters to submit documents verifying the existence of their chapter, its size, and its current officer list. Caucuses must submit chartering documents every two years.

Chartering Process and Checklist

This section seeks to provide all the information necessary to charter your chapter, in compliance with the process as outlined in the CYD Bylaws.

Here is a link to the CYD Chartering Application - please ensure that you have read this section before starting your application.

Step 1: Gathering Basic Chapter Information

Make sure you have this information ready before submitting your chapter’s application:

  • Name, Region, and Type

  • Mailing Address

  • Generic Contact Email

  • Regular Meeting Location and Time/Date

  • Website URL and Social Media handles

  • FPPC and FEC numbers (if applicable)

  • Officer Election Schedule

  • President/Chair Name, Email, and Mobile Phone

Step 2: Preparing Your Chapter Bylaws

We require that each chapter submits a copy of their bylaws as part of the application. If your organization doesn’t have bylaws yet, or you don’t know where to start, CYD has created a sample bylaw document that you can customize to meet your chapter’s needs.

Make sure you have a PDF copy of your chapter’s bylaws ready for the application.

Step 3: Preparing Your Chapter Membership/Officer Roster

To remain in compliance with the California Democratic Party and the Young Democrats of America, we are required to verify that each chapter’s membership consists only of registered Democrats (or underage individuals who plan to register as Democrats) under the age of 36.

CYD has created a template spreadsheet that you are required to use for chartering. Regardless of how your chapter tracks membership, your roster must be submitted using the template. Do not rearrange the columns.

Here are the data points that we require to be submitted for each member:

  • First and Last Name

  • Date of Birth (for age verification)

  • Voting Address (for registration verification)

  • Email Address and Mobile Phone Number

  • Officer Title (if applicable - if the member is an officer of your chapter, list their title here)

  • Graduation Date (for High School and College Democrats chapters only - list the estimated year of graduation for each member)

Before submitting your roster, please ensure that:

  1. All members have all required information. Only members with complete information will be counted towards your chapter’s membership.

  2. Your membership roster is clean. Remove members that are aged out (36 and over) and clear out any duplicates.

  3. You have at least 10 unique members. While individuals can have memberships with multiple CYD chapters, they can only be counted towards the membership of a single chapter for chartering purposes. Members should indicate their ‘primary’ chapter and only be included in said chapter’s application.

Verification & Final Credentials Assignment

The process outlined below explains what happens after you submit your chapter’s application. Credentials are assigned to chapters based on their submitted Chapter Membership List. As described under Chartering Requirements, only complete entries (with all required fields), meeting minimum requirements are tallied. Following this tally, a verification process is conducted to ensure the accuracy of the reported memberships. 

Preliminary Reporting 

Within one week after the close of the chartering period, the Credentials Committee will distribute an Unverified Preliminary Credentials Report to all pending chapter Presidents and the current State Leadership Committee. 

The report will include: 

  1. The name and location of each pending chapter 

  2. The total number of unverified members each chapter submitted 

  3. Information missing for each chapter’s charter 

Pending Chapters are allowed until to submit a single revision of their Chapter Membership List by 11:59 pm on the noticed post-chartering deadline. Note this revision is intended to correct small errors or missed details. No new memberships may be added. Revisions submitted with more members listed then the original Chapter Membership List will be rejected. 

Following verification, the Credentials Committee will distribute a Recommended Credentials Report to all pending chapter Presidents and the current Statewide Leadership Committee.

At the CYD State Convention or first State Leadership Committee (if there is no CYD State Convention that year), the Credentials Committee will approve each chapter’s membership. In years where there is a CYD State Convention, delegate votes are assigned based on the approved memberships of each chapter. This is completed at the beginning of the meeting, before any other business, including CYD Officer elections.

Membership Verification 

CYD will conduct a review of each chapter’s reported membership. Chapter officers should advise their members of this process to expedite its completion. Each chapter must have at least 10 percent of their membership verified. 

A three-step verification process is conducted:

  1. A random sampling of members is contacted: 

    1. A random 10% email sample from each pending chapter (if necessary followed by) 

    2. A random 10% phone sample (no duplication of list 1, and if necessary followed by) 

    3. A second random 10% phone sample (no duplication of list 1 and list 2) 

  2. Affirmative respondents from each sample are added (for a maximum of 10% of total membership) and multiplied by ten to determine the total membership from which the number of delegates are allocated.

  3. Individuals who appear on more than one chapter’s chartering forms will be contacted and asked to select a single chapter to charter with. That individual will be removed from all other chapters’ Chartering Applications. 

  4. Ex: Chapter A submits a membership list with 100 members. CYD would e-mail a random 10% of the members. Then CYD would make up to two rounds of phone calls to 10% of the members each time, if necessary. If 3 people responded yes to each sample, they would be added together for a total of 9, and the chapter would receive delegates commensurate with 90 members. 

Penalties 

Generally at issue: chapters whose reported membership list generate multiple negative responses during the verification process will have their membership list referred to the Credentials Committee for further review, with potential penalties at the discretion of the Committee. However, in no case will penalties be considered for chapters with fewer than 5 percent of negative responses during the verification process. 

NOTE: No refund of membership fees will be granted for any entries removed through the verification process. 

Convention Delegates Allocations for Voting 

As outlined in Article VI, voting rights are allocated to chapters based on their verified membership totals as follows: 

1 delegate for the 10 to 25 members
1 additional delegate for each 25 members thereafter. 

EXAMPLES:
A chapter verified with 15 members receives (1) delegate vote
A chapter verified with 49 members receives (1) delegate vote
A chapter verified with 50 members receives (2) delegate votes
A chapter verified with 110 members receives (4) delegate votes
A chapter verified with 327 members receives (13) delegate votes

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A chapter is eligible to be a member of the CYD if all of the following apply: Ten unique people are members; each member is between 13 and 35 years of age; and each member is a registered Democrat, or intends to register when eligible. A chapter/club is considered “chartered” if it holds a current charter granted by the California Young Democrats as approved by the Rules Committee.

  • Approved credentials allow each chapter a single vote on the CYD Statewide Leadership Committee and delegate votes proportional to membership at the CYD State Convention.

  • Any group of ten or more individuals age 13-35 may apply to the California Young Democrats to become a chartered chapter/club. Chartered chapters are autonomous and may operate in any manner that is not inconsistent with the CYD Bylaws.

  • Item descriptionThe simple answer is NO. Per CYD Bylaws, you must submit the full name, birth date, home address, phone number, and email address (and a predicted graduation year for high school and college chapters) of every member. If information is missing, you will have the chance to make one limited revision. Contact members with missing or invalid information before submitting your Charter Application. If a member does not possess an email address, we recommend directing them to the nearest public library that offers free access to the Internet to obtain a free email address with Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. Most schools offer their students free email addresses as well.

  • Your charter application must be RECEIVED no later than 11:59 pm on the day of the deadline.

  • Each individual may be a member of multiple chapters, however, chapters must charter with unique members. If a member is active with multiple chapters, you should contact that member to determine which chapter they will want to charter with. Individuals who appear on multiple chartering lists will be contacted and asked to identify one (1) chapter to charter with. That individual will then be removed from the other chapter lists. This will count against those chapters’ verification totals.