California Pirate Party Demoted to Observer Status by Pirate National Committee

The California Pirate Party has lost its voting membership in the Pirate National Committee and was demoted to observer status this month after failing to send a representative to the national committee’s weekly meetings.

The United States Pirate Party said in a June 15 post-meeting update that California lost its membership status as of the committee’s June 14 meeting. A recording of the meeting shows that the Pirate National Committee voted 7-0 to demote California, with the Arizona affiliate abstaining. Representatives from California and Texas were not present for the vote.

The change reduces the number of Pirate National Committee member states to nine. The remaining member states are Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

In its update, the U.S. Pirate Party said the change does not mean the California Pirate Party has ceased to exist and that Californians can still become involved through the state party. However, the organization no longer has a vote in matters before the Pirate National Committee while it remains an observer state. The party also encouraged interested California residents to get involved and attend national meetings, saying participation could help the state regain its vote.

The Pirate National Committee is the U.S. Pirate Party’s body of recognized state party representatives. Under its bylaws, state parties seeking representation must meet several conditions, including appointing a primary representative and at least one alternate, maintaining an active web presence with a clear way for prospective members to make contact, ratifying the national bylaws, and regularly sending a representative to the PNC’s meetings.

The bylaws allow a state to be moved into probationary status if no representative attends two consecutive meetings or if the state party otherwise no longer meets representation requirements. After at least one month, the national committee reviews whether the state party again meets those requirements. If it does, the state returns to member status; if not, it is declared an observer state.