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Branches of GVT
02-03
Rodrigue - Gagnon Administration
01-02
Creasman - Gagnon Administration
00-01
Odera - Shannak Administration
99-00
Moody - Kelleher Administration
98-99
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GUIDELINES Of the University of Maine FAIR ELECTIONS PRACTICES COMMISSION
XXX ARTICLE I THE COMMISSION SECTION 1 – PURPOSE A. Shall be required to conduct elections for Student Government executive officers, General Student Senate and any organization recognized by Student Government that requests FEPC assistance in their respective elections. B. To ensure the fair, honest and democratic election of all elections conducted. C. To receive complaints of alleged election rule violations, investigate, conduct hearings, and report election rule violations to the General Student Senate. D. To print and tally ballots for all elections FEPC shall conduct. E. To fairly apportion Student Government voting districts; a process which shall be completed according to the by-laws of the GSS. F. To periodically review and recommend changes of these guidelines to the GSS.
SECTION 2 – MEMBERSHIP A. The membership of the FEPC shall be determined by the fourth regular meeting of the GSS following the Inauguration of the newly elected President and Vice President of Student Government, or when any positions should fall vacant. B. Membership shall be determined by nomination of and election by the GSS. C. Membership shall not fall below four members, in addition to the chair. If at any time the membership of the FEPC drops below four the Senate shall immediately fill the vacant spots. Once the membership of the FEPC reaches four further appointments may only be made one at a time once every 30 days. D. Membership will be made up of not more than 50% GSS Senators, and shall not consist of any paid employees of Student Government, save any FEPC Officers who may be compensated by Student Government. E. A member can be if found to be in violation of these FEPC guidelines shall be removed from the commission by recommendation of the Chair and concurrence of the Student Government President or majority vote of the commission.
SECTION 3 – FEPC OFFICERS A. Chairperson • The FEPC chair shall be appointed by the GSS on the fourth regular meeting of the GSS following the Inauguration of the newly elected President and Vice President of Student Government, or when the position should fall vacant. • The FEPC chair shall be trained before taking the position by the previous chair. • The FEPC chair shall not be an elected Senator of the GSS, or any compensated member of Student Government. • The FEPC chair shall call all meetings of the FEPC. • The FEPC chair shall be responsible for coordinating all election related activities, and assuring that these guidelines are upheld at all times. • In electronic ballot elections, when real time results are submitted to the FEPC chair before polls have closed, no preliminary results may be released by the chair, or any member of the FEPC until such time that voting has officially ceased. • The FEPC chair shall provide candidates with unofficial results as soon as they become available. The election shall be certified by the FEPC chair within one week of the results being verified. • The FEPC chair shall perform other such duties as directed by the GSS. B. Vice-Chairperson 1. The Vice-Chairperson of the FEPC shall be decided by vote of the FEPC during the first meeting of the newly elected FEPC. 2. The Vice-Chairperson of the FEPC shall run any meetings of the FEPC in the absence of the chair. 3. The Vice-Chairperson shall assist the chair as necessary. C. Inauguration Director 1. The Inauguration Director of the FEPC shall be decided by vote of the FEPC during the first meeting of the newly elected FEPC. 2. The Inauguration Director will handle all inaugural activities of UMSG Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections, as overseen and instructed by the FEPC Chairperson. 3. The Vice-Chairperson shall assist the chair as necessary.
SECTION 4 – FEPC MEMBER OBLIGATIONS Members of the FEPC shall be obligated to: 1. Attend all meetings of the FEPC that are called by the FEPC Chair. 2. Assist the FEPC officers in planning and conducting all elections, including manning voting booths and counting ballots. 3. Shall be in no way affiliated with a campaign who's election will be overseen by the FEPC, save one's own if running for a seat in the GSS. 4. Shall be neutral at all times, and not advocate for or against any candidate or question who's election will be overseen by the FEPC, save one's own candidacy if running for a seat in the GSS.
SECTION 5 – FEPC JURISDICTION • The FEPC shall have the authority to review any election held by an organization recognized by Student Government, and shall serve as the final arbiter in all electoral disputes under its jurisdiction. • All groups who use the FEPC guidelines or any component of FEPC for any voting process shall abide by all FEPC guidelines.
SECTION 6 – ANNUAL REVIEWS • The FEPC shall conduct annual reviews of the election practices of all Representative Boards and Community Associations in accordance with the UMSG Constitution. The FEPC shall determine if the Representative Board or Community Association's election practices provide proper safeguards and recourses should someone wish to challenge results. • Annual Reviews shall be held at the beginning of the academic year. Priority shall be given to those groups whose annual elections are held early in the year. • Each Representative Board and Community Association shall submit an outline of their election process and practices to the FEPC for review. No Representative Board or Community Association shall hold annual elections until their annual review has been completed. Should a Representative Board or Community Association conduct elections without having completed their annual review the FEPC shall report the violation to the Senate for disciplinary action. • Any Representative Board or Community Association who uses the FEPC to conduct their elections shall not be subject to an annual review. • Should a Representative Board or Community Association not pass their annual review the FEPC shall provide them with a report outlining the reasons for not passing and suggestions on how to rectify the problems. A group may resubmit the outline of their election process and practices after changes have been made. • Should a Representative Board or Community Association need to hold an election before they have passed their annual review they may request that the FEPC conduct the election.
ARTICLE II STANDARD ELECTIONS
SECTION 1 – DEFINITION A standard election shall be defined as an election conducted by the FEPC that is administered on behalf of University of Maine Student Government , Inc. recognized Representative Boards and Community Associations. The applicability of the guidelines for other organizations recognized by Student Government shall be left to the discretion of the FEPC Chair on a case by case basis.
SECTION 2 – VOTER ELIGABILITY A. All members in good standing of the constituency in which the election is being conducted for shall be eligible voters, unless otherwise specified in the group's constitution. B. Absentee ballots will be made available to those students unable to vote on the day of any election. Students not eligible according to the List of Student Records used by the FEPC may vote absentee on the day of the election, the ballot shall be marked and the student's eligibility shall be verified after the election. Absentee polls will be open two (2) business days before the election and on the day of the election. C. Voters must present photo identification as requested by polling attendants to verify identification of the voter.
SECTION 3 – CANDIDATE ELIGABILITY A. All members in good standing of the constituency in which the election is being conducted for shall be eligible candidates, unless otherwise specified in the organization's constitution. B. Nominations of candidates in standard elections must be made and seconded by members of the organization who is requesting election administration, unless otherwise specified in the organization's constitution.
SECTION 4 – TIMETABLE OF THE ELECTION • Standard election dates shall be determined by the organization requesting FEPC election administration. • Nominations for candidates in standard elections must be made no less than 3 weeks before the election date. The FEPC chair shall prepare a list of official candidates after nominations are closed. • Write in candidates must communicate their desire to be considered a write in candidate to the FEPC chair no less than one week prior to the election date. • Campaigning for candidates may begin immediately after nominations are closed. • All standard elections shall be conducted on one single class day, unless otherwise specified in the organization's constitution. • The FEPC chair shall provide candidates with unofficial results as soon as they become available. The election shall be certified by the FEPC chair within one week of the results being verified. • Delays caused by the University of Maine communications infrastructure, including the First Class server difficulties of more than 4 hours will result in cancellation and rescheduling of voting. A delay of less than 4 hours will be resolved by keeping polls open for a longer period of time equal to the length of the delay. The voting body shall be notified electronically by the FEPC Chairperson. The election, if postponed, shall occur no more than 2 business days after the original election date.
SECTION 5 – CAMPAIGNING • Campaigning may begin immediately after nominations for candidates are closed. 1) Campaigning shall be defined herein as purporting or endorsing stances on any issues affecting one's candidacy or encouraging potential voters for their vote. a) Announcing candidacy for office shall not fall under the definition of campaigning. • No candidate shall be able to accept any funds from any Student Government organization. • Campaigning on First Class will be allowed up to but not including the time of the election. • No campaign material shall be allowed in any polling place12 hours before the opening of the polls. • Candidates will be responsible for the removal of all campaign material from the entire campus after the election has concluded. • All candidates that campaign on campus must be in compliance with any rules or guidelines that apply to their candidacy as well as these FEPC guidelines. If found in violation of policies, a candidate may be declared ineligible. • No campaign material representing a specific candidate or candidates shall be posted within 25 feet of University of Maine Student Government Offices . • Any single candidate may not spend more than $100.00. In the case of in-kind contributions the fair market value, as determined by FEPC, shall be applied toward this expenditure limit. • All candidates shall be required to present a detailed account of current and future campaign expenditures, receipts and a summary accounting by 12:00 pm two (2) business days before the election. Failure to do so shall result in immediate candidate ineligibility. • The FEPC shall review all candidate expenditure receipts and summaries. Any expenditure over the limits shall cause the FEPC Chairperson to disqualify a candidate.
SECTION 6 – THE BALLOT A. The order of names on the ballot shall be determined by a publicly held lottery at the candidates meeting, no less than one week before the election date. The FEPC Chairperson will notify candidates of the drawing but it is the choice of the candidate to be in person or not .
B. There shall be no indication of party affiliation on the ballots, unless stated otherwise in the organization's constitution. C. Full control of the format, production and distribution of ballots shall be in the hands of the FEPC. D. Ballots shall be disposed of no earlier than 24 hours after the swearing in of the winning candidates. A record of the election returns will be approved by the FEPC and be kept on file in the Student Government office. This will serve as the permanent record of the election results after the ballots have been disposed of.
SECTION 7 – POLLING PLACES • There shall be one ballot box at one polling place, unless otherwise specified in the organization's constitution. On or near each ballot box there shall be a sign displayed which reads: "VOTE HERE FOR__________" in which the blank section is filled by the position being elected. • First Class is not an official polling place. • There shall be no materials or information at the polling place other than the advertisement of the election itself. No information about the candidates or their platforms shall be available at the polling place. Poll attendants shall remain completely neutral, and shall not give information out to perspective voters other than the names of the candidates. • FEPC is responsible to ensure that ballot boxes are empty and secure before the election begins. • Polls must be open for at least two hours at each location for election results to be considered valid. • No ballot box will be left unattended for any reason at any time; else the election shall be voided and conducted again as soon as possible. • No candidate shall campaign within 50 feet of the polling place. • All appointments to work at polling places are subject to the discretion of the FEPC Chairperson.
SECTION 8 – VOTING A. Voter eligibility shall be determined before any person shall be able to place a vote. B. Each voter will be allowed to vote only once. To ensure this policy, a voter list of all eligible voters shall be prepared before the election and maintained throughout the election. When a person votes, they shall be marked on the voter list, to ensure they are not allowed to vote again. C. Each ballot shall be completed and given to a poll attendant, who shall fold the ballot and place it in the ballot box.
SECTION 9 – BALLOT COUNTING A. Ballot counting shall commence within 72 hours after the closing of the last polling place, at a publicly announced location. B. Counting shall be conducted by the FEPC members. C. Each individual shall be allowed one ballot counting observer, whom may not be a candidate. This observer's name shall be submitted in writing two business days in advance of the election. D. During the counting of ballots, there shall be no admittance into the designated counting place by anyone other than FEPC members and observers. E. All doubtful ballots shall be set aside, and not counted, until the end of the first count. F. Upon the conclusion of the first count, the disposition of all doubtful ballots shall be decided upon by the commission, and the results will be added to the tallies.
SECTION 10 – ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESULTS A. Unofficial results may be announced at the conclusion of ballot counting. If First Class is used, preliminary results may not be revealed until the voting period ends and the ballots have been counted. B. Certification of the election shall occur once the results are published, signed by the FEPC Chairperson, and notarized by a certified notary public. C. Certification of the election must take place as soon as possible following the passing of the deadline for the election being contested, given no complaints have been filed. D. If complaints are filed, certification of the election shall take place after the disputes have been fully resolved. E. At least two copies of the official returns shall be kept in student government files.
SECTION 11 – COMPLAINTS, RECOUNTS AND HEARINGS • All activity fee paying undergraduate students registered at the University of Maine are eligible to file a complaint. • If the complaint of against the FEPC or any member of the FEPC, the complaint shall be filed to the GSS via the Student Government, Inc. office. • All complaints should properly outline who is in violation so the complaint can be heard accordingly • All complaints must be filed between 12:00am of the first day of campaigning and 12:00pm of the second business day following the closing of the polls. • Complaints filed to the FEPC shall be reported to the GSS and dealt with accordingly. • All complaints will contain at least the following information: • Name of the alleged violator. • The specific violation. • Where and when alleged violation occurred. • Evidence, if any. • Names of witnesses and where they can be contacted. • All complaints will be signed by the person(s) making the complaint. • Complainant will be available to FEPC for purposes of conducting investigations and hearings. • FEPC Chairperson will be responsible for contacting the complainant and alleged violator immediately following initial ballot count(s) for verification of complaint. • No disclosure of complaints will be made until verified by the FEPC Chairperson by contacting the complainant and the alleged violator. • If any complaints are filed, the first hearing shall be held within two business days following the deadline for filing complaints. • The hearings shall be held by the FEPC until all complaints are acted upon. The agenda for hearings shall be as follows: • Call to order. • Statement by the Chair. • Reading of the first complaint filed. • The complainant, or his/her representative, presents cases. • The alleged violator, or his/her representative, responds. • Repeat 3-5 for all complaints. • Set the time of the next hearing. • Adjourn. • All hearings shall be open to the public, but full control shall be reserved in the FEPC. • The FEPC shall discuss complaints of alleged rules violation in a closed meeting; voting on complaints of alleged rules violation will be done by a roll call vote at an open meeting. After all complaints filed have been heard and acted upon by the FEPC, election results will be validated and publicly announced. • If FEPC is accused of violating its guidelines, the GSS will serve as the judiciary body, and shall follow the same procedures. • All candidates shall have the right to request a recount by submitting in person, a written and signed statement requesting such a recount within 24 hours of public notification of the results. • i. The candidates involved may be present at the recount. • All candidates shall be informed of the results immediately following the recount. • The results shall be announced within one hour of the conclusion of all necessary FEPC complaint hearings.
SECTION 12 – INAUGURATION OF NEW OFFICERS For standard elections, inauguration of new officers will be planned and conducted by the organization involved in the election.
ARTICLE III SENATE ELECTIONS SECTION 1 – DEFINITION A senate election shall be defined as an election conducted by the FEPC that is administered on behalf of the General Student Senate, to determine its members.
SECTION 2 – VOTER ELIGABILITY A. All members in good standing of the activity fee paying, undergraduate student body shall be eligible to vote. B. Each voter shall be divided into the academic college in which they belong, and shall only be eligible to cast a vote for a candidate wishing to represent that college. C. Absentee ballots will be made available to those students unable to vote on the day of any election. Students not eligible according to the List of Student Records used by the FEPC may vote absentee on the day of the election, the ballot shall be marked and the student's eligibility shall be verified after the election. Absentee polls will be open two (2) business days before the election and on the day of the election. D. Voters must present photo identification as requested by polling attendants to verify identification of the voter.
SECTION 3 – CANDIDATE ELIGABILITY A. All members in good standing of the activity fee paying, undergraduate student body shall be eligible to run for senate seats, unless otherwise stated in the GSS Standing Rules. B. Each candidate shall be divided into the academic college in which they belong, and may only run for a seat within that college. Appointments to vacant seats following the election shall be subject to GSS Standing Rules. C. Nominations of candidates in senate elections must be made by each candidate gaining not less than 25 signatures within their constituency. D. Nomination petitions must be turned in according to the timeline to have the candidate placed on the ballot. E. Write-in candidates shall only be considered provided that they notify the FEPC, in writing, of their intent to be a candidate and provide current address and phone number. This must be provided no later than 12:00pm, two days prior to the election. If a write in candidate is successful in winning a Senate seat, they must provide a petition of 25 signatures before they are sworn in.
SECTION 4 – TIMETABLE OF THE ELECTION • Senate elections shall be held on the first Thursday of October. • Write in candidates must notify the FEPC Chairperson of their intentions no less than one week prior to the election. • Three weeks prior to the election, for the term of one week, candidates shall be allowed to complete nomination papers. Paperwork shall be due by 12:00pm the Thursday following the initial availability of nomination forms. • Two weeks prior to the election shall be allowed for campaigning. • One day shall be allowed for elections. The polls shall be open from 9am until 5pm that day. • This timetable allows three weeks and one day. Exact dates of the timetable must be provided to the General Student Senate by the FEPC Chairperson at the first meeting of the General Student Senate in the fall semester. • Delays caused by the University of Maine communications infrastructure, including the First Class server difficulties of more than 4 hours will result in cancellation and rescheduling of voting. A delay of less than 4 hours will be resolved by keeping polls open for a longer period of time equal to the length of the delay. The voting body shall be notified electronically by the FEPC Chairperson. The election, if postponed, shall occur no more than 2 business days after the original election date.
SECTION 5 – CAMPAIGNING • Campaigning may begin immediately after nominations for candidates are closed. 1) Campaigning shall be defined herein as purporting or endorsing stances on any issues affecting one's candidacy or encouraging potential voters for their vote. a) Announcing candidacy for office shall not fall under the definition of campaigning. • No candidate shall be able to accept any funds from any Student Government organization. • Campaigning on First Class will be allowed up to but not including the time of the election. • No campaign material shall be allowed in any polling place 12 hours before the opening of the polls. • Candidates will be responsible for the removal of all campaign material from the entire campus after the election has concluded. • All candidates that campaign on campus must be in compliance with any rules or guidelines that apply to their candidacy as well as these FEPC guidelines. If found in violation of policies, a candidate may be declared ineligible. • No campaign material representing a specific candidate or candidates shall be posted within 25 feet of University of Maine Student Government Offices . • Any single candidate may not spend more than $100.00 during Senate elections. In the case of in-kind contributions the fair market value, as determined by FEPC, shall be applied toward this expenditure limit. • All candidates shall be required to present a detailed account of current and future campaign expenditures, receipts and a summary accounting by 12:00 pm two (2) business days before the election. Failure to do so shall result in immediate candidate ineligibility. This requirement shall be considered null and void if the seat the candidate is running for is uncontested. • The FEPC shall review all candidate expenditure receipts and summaries. Any expenditure over the limits shall cause the FEPC Chairperson to disqualify a candidate.
SECTION 6 – THE BALLOT A. The order of names on the ballot shall be determined by a publicly held lottery at the candidates meeting, no less than one week prior to elections. The FEPC Chairperson will notify candidates of the drawing but it is the choice of the candidate to be in person or not. B. There shall be no indication of party affiliation on the ballots, unless requested by the candidate. C. Full control of the format, production and distribution of ballots shall be in the hands of the FEPC. D. Ballots shall be disposed of no earlier than 24 hours after the swearing in of the winning candidates. A record of the election returns will be approved by the FEPC and be kept on file in the Student Government office. This will serve as the permanent record of the election results after the ballots have been disposed of.
SECTION 7 – POLLING PLACES • There shall be one ballot box for each Senate seat being contested at each polling place. On or near each ballot box there shall be a sign displayed which reads: "VOTE HERE FOR YOUR GENERAL STUDENT SENATOR". • First Class is not an official polling place. • There shall be no materials or information at the polling place other than the advertisement of the election itself. No information about the candidates or their platforms shall be available at the polling place. Poll attendants shall remain completely neutral, and shall not give information out to perspective voters other than the names of the candidates. • FEPC is responsible to ensure that ballot boxes are empty and secure before the election begins. • No ballot box will be left unattended for any reason at any time; else the election shall be voided and conducted again as soon as possible. • No candidate shall campaign within 50 feet of any polling places. • All appointments to work at polling places are subject to the discretion of the FEPC Chairperson.
SECTION 8 – VOTING A. If a Senate seat is uncontested, the election for that seat shall be cancelled, and all candidates for that seat shall be sworn in with all newly elected Senators. B. Voter eligibility shall be determined before any person shall be able to place a vote. C. A voter may only place a vote for a candidate running for a seat in the academic college the voter belongs to. D. Each voter will be allowed to vote only once. To ensure this policy, a voter list of all eligible voters shall be prepared before the election and maintained throughout the election. When a person votes, they shall be marked on the voter list, to ensure they are not allowed to vote again. E. Voters shall be allowed to vote for multiple candidates on one ballot, not exceeding the number of seats available for the academic college the voter belongs to. Voters shall not however, be required to vote for any number of candidates, that determination shall be up to the voter. F. Each ballot shall be completed and given to a poll attendant, who shall fold the ballot and place it in the ballot box.
SECTION 9 – BALLOT COUNTING A. Ballot counting shall commence within 24 hours after the closing of the last polling place, at a publicly announced location. B. Counting shall be conducted by the FEPC members. C. Each individual shall be allowed one ballot counting observer, whom may not be a candidate. This observer's name shall be submitted in writing two business days in advance of the election. D. During the counting of ballots, there shall be no admittance into the designated counting place by anyone other than FEPC members and observers. E. All doubtful ballots shall be set aside, and not counted, until the end of the first count. F. Upon the conclusion of the first count, the disposition of all doubtful ballots shall be decided upon by the commission, and the results will be added to the tallies. G. The winners of Senate seats shall be those candidates who were the top finishers equal to that of the number of available seats. In the event of any ties, a run off election shall occur exactly 7 days from the date of the original Senate election.
SECTION 10 – ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESULTS A. Unofficial results may be announced at the conclusion of ballot counting. If First Class is being used, preliminary results may not be revealed until the voting period ends and the ballots haven been counted. B. Certification of the election shall occur once the results are published, signed by the FEPC Chairperson, and notarized by a certified notary public. C. Certification of the election must take place as soon as possible following the passing of the deadline for the election being contested, given no complaints have been filed. D. If complaints are filed, certification of the election shall take place after the disputes have been fully resolved. E. At least two copies of the official returns shall be kept in student government files.
SECTION 11 – COMPLAINTS, RECOUNTS AND HEARINGS • In the event of a delay of the election certification, the session of the General Student Senate shall not be dissolved in favor of the newly elected session until such time as all complaints have been dealt with. • All activity fee paying undergraduate students registered at the University of Maine are eligible to file a complaint. • If the complaint of against the FEPC or any member of the FEPC, the complaint shall be filed to the GSS via the Student Government, Inc. office. • All complaints should properly outline who is in violation so the complaint can be heard accordingly • All complaints must be filed between 12:00am of the first day of campaigning and 12:00pm of the second business day following the closing of the polls. • Complaints filed to the FEPC shall be reported to the GSS and dealt with accordingly. • All complaints will contain at least the following information: • Name of the alleged violator. • The specific violation. • Where and when alleged violation occurred. • Evidence, if any. • Names of witnesses and where they can be contacted. • All complaints will be signed by the person(s) making the complaint. • Complainant will be available to FEPC for purposes of conducting investigations and hearings. • FEPC Chairperson will be responsible for contacting the complainant and alleged violator immediately following initial ballot count(s) for verification of complaint. • No disclosure of complaints will be made until verified by the FEPC Chairperson by contacting the complainant and the alleged violator. • If any complaints are filed, the first hearing shall be held within two business days following the deadline for filing complaints. • The hearings shall be held by the FEPC until all complaints are acted upon. The agenda for hearings shall be as follows: • Call to order. • Statement by the Chair. • Reading of the first complaint filed. • The complainant, or his/her representative, presents cases. • The alleged violator, or his/her representative, responds. • Repeat 3-5 for all complaints. • Set the time of the next hearing. • Adjourn. • All hearings shall be open to the public, but full control shall be reserved in the FEPC. • The FEPC shall discuss complaints of alleged rules violation in a closed meeting; voting on complaints of alleged rules violation will be done by a roll call vote at an open meeting. After all complaints filed have been heard and acted upon by the FEPC, election results will be validated and publicly announced. • If FEPC is accused of violating its guidelines, the GSS will serve as the judiciary body, and shall follow the same procedures. • i. All candidates shall have the right to request a recount by submitting in person, a written and signed statement requesting such a recount within 24 hours of public notification of the results. • The candidates involved may be present at the recount. • All candidates shall be informed of the results immediately following the recount. • The results shall be announced within one hour of the conclusion of all necessary FEPC complaint hearings.
SECTION 12 – SWEARING IN OF NEW SENATORS Senators shall be sworn in at the next regular meeting of the GSS following the certified election.
ARTICLE IV STUDENT GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS
SECTION 1 – DEFINITION An executive election shall be defined as an election conducted by the FEPC that is administered on behalf of the Student Government, to determine the President and Vice President of Student Government
SECTION 2 – VOTER ELIGABILITY A. All members in good standing of the activity fee paying, undergraduate student body shall be eligible to vote. B. Absentee ballots will be made available to those students unable to vote on the day of any election. Students not eligible according to the List of Student Records used by the FEPC may vote absentee on the day of the election, the ballot shall be marked and the student's eligibility shall be verified after the election. Absentee polls will be open two (2) business days before the election and on the day of the election. C. Voters must present photo identification as requested by polling attendants to verify identification of the voter in any case of paper ballot voting.
SECTION 3 – CANDIDATE ELIGABILITY A. All members in good standing of the activity fee paying, undergraduate student body who meet the Student Government constitutional requirements for candidacy shall be eligible to run for an executive election. B. The candidates shall be members, in good standing, of the General Student Body and shall submit a petition at least twenty-one (21) days before the election signed by at least two-hundred (200) members of the General Student Body. C. Nomination petitions must be turned in according to the timeline to have the candidate placed on the ballot. D. Candidates must attend a meeting with the FEPC to discuss the FEPC Guidelines before being officially placed on the ballot. This meeting must take place no later than fourteen (14) days before the election. E. Candidates who are placed on the ballot shall deliver a platform statement before the GSS, and such other persons as may wish to attend a special meeting of the GSS held seven (7) days before the election. F. Write-in candidates shall only be considered provided that they notify the FEPC, in writing, of their intent to be a candidate and provide current address and phone number. This must be provided no later than 12:00pm, two days prior to the election. If a write in candidate is successful in winning an executive position, they must provide a petition of 200 signatures before they are sworn in. G. If a candidate fails to meet any of these requirements, disqualification of the candidates shall automatically occur.
SECTION 4 – TIMETABLE OF THE ELECTION • T his election will be held on the Monday of the second to last week of regular classes prior to finals week in December. • Publicity for this election will occur during the first and second weeks of November. • Candidates must file nomination papers with 200 signatures of eligible voters. • Write in candidates must notify the FEPC Chairperson of their intentions no less than one week prior to the election. • Four weeks prior to the election, for the term of one week, candidates shall be allowed to complete nomination papers. Paperwork shall be due by 12:00pm the Monday following the initial availability of nomination forms. • Four weeks prior to the election shall be allowed for campaigning. • One day shall be allowed for elections. The polls shall be open from 9am until 5pm that day. • This timetable allows four weeks and one day. Exact dates of the timetable must be provided to the General Student Senate by the FEPC Chairperson at the first meeting of the new session of the General Student Senate elected in the fall. • Candidates on the ballot shall deliver a platform statement before the GSS, and such other persons as may wish to attend the regular meeting of the GSS held immediately prior to the election. • Candidates may withdraw their names from nomination up to seven (7) business days before the election. • Delays caused by the University of Maine communications infrastructure, including the First Class server difficulties of more than 4 hours will result in cancellation and rescheduling of voting. A delay of less than 4 hours will be resolved by keeping polls open for a longer period of time equal to the length of the delay. The voting body shall be notified electronically by the FEPC Chairperson. The election, if postponed, shall occur no more than 2 business days after the original election date.
SECTION 5 – CAMPAIGNING
• Campaigning shall be defined herein as purporting or endorsing stances on any issues affecting one's candidacy or encouraging potential voters for their vote. • Announcing candidacy for office shall not fall under the definition of campaigning.
SECTION 6 – THE BALLOT A. The order of names on the ballot shall be determined by a publicly held lottery at the candidates meeting no less than one week before the election date. The FEPC Chairperson will notify candidates of the drawing but it is the choice of the candidate to be in person or not. B. There shall be no indication of party affiliation on the ballots, unless requested by the candidate. C. The ballot shall be in electronic format, using the First Class Intranet program which has been developed to conduct this election. The FEPC Chairperson shall work with the Information Technologies (IT) director to ensure the smooth process of conducting an online election. D. There shall be paper ballots made available in the Student Government Office to ensure that any student having technical difficulties with the First Class voting system shall have the opportunity to vote. Any paper ballot shall be treated as an absentee ballot. E. Paper ballots shall be disposed of no earlier than 24 hours after the swearing in of the winning candidates. A record of the election returns will be approved by the FEPC and be kept on file in the Student Government office. This will serve as the permanent record of the election results after the ballots have been disposed of.
SECTION 7 – POLLING PLACES A. There shall be one ballot box for the aforementioned absentee voting system, located in the Student Government office, and manned by a member of the FEPC at all times. B. A polling place shall be defined for the purpose of these guidelines, as any public computer cluster. Private computers shall not be defined as polling places. C. First Class is not an official polling place. D. There shall be no materials or information at the polling place other than the advertisement of the election itself. No information about the candidates or their platforms shall be available at the polling place. Poll attendants shall remain completely neutral, and shall not give information out to perspective voters other than the names of the candidates. E. FEPC is responsible to ensure that the absentee ballot box is empty and secure before the election begins. F. The absentee ballot box will not be left unattended for any reason at any time; else the election shall be voided and conducted again as soon as possible. G. No candidate shall intentionally campaign within 25 feet of any polling places. H. All appointments to work at polling places are subject to the discretion of the FEPC Chairperson.
SECTION 8 – VOTING A. If an office is uncontested, the election for that office shall be cancelled, and the only candidate who was eligible (if there are any) shall be automatically declared the election winner. B. Voter eligibility shall be determined before any person shall be able to place an absentee vote. For all electronic votes, eligibility will be determined by a voter's ability to log into the election software. C. Each voter will be allowed to vote only once. This will be guaranteed by the electronic program used to conduct the election. In the case of paper absentee ballots, to ensure this policy, a voter list of all eligible voters shall be prepared before the election and maintained throughout the election. When a person votes absentee, they shall be marked on the voter list, to ensure they are not allowed to vote again. D. Each absentee ballot shall be completed and given to a poll attendant, who shall fold the ballot and place it in the ballot box. E. Voting shall take place separately for President and Vice President of Student Government. There shall be no tickets, each office is independently elected.
SECTION 9 – BALLOT COUNTING A. Electronic vote counting shall be done in a real time. The results shall be provided to the FEPC Chairperson by the IT director as requested. B. Absentee ballot counting shall commence within 24 hours after the closing of the last polling place, at a publicly announced location. C. Absentee counting shall be conducted by the FEPC members. D. Each individual shall be allowed one ballot counting observer, whom may not be a candidate. This observer's name shall be submitted in writing two business days in advance of the election. This observer may only be given election returns after polls are closed, and may watch absentee ballot counting. E. During the absentee ballot counting, there shall be no admittance into the designated counting place by anyone other than FEPC members and observers. F. All doubtful absentee ballots shall be set aside, and not counted, until the end of the first count. G. Upon the conclusion of the first count, the disposition of all doubtful ballots shall be decided upon by the commission, and the results will be added to the tallies.
SECTION 10 – ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESULTS A. Unofficial results may be announced at the conclusion of ballot counting. If First Class is used, preliminary results may not be revealed until the voting period ends and the ballots have been counted. B. Certification of the election shall occur once the results are published, signed by the FEPC Chairperson, and notarized by a certified notary public. C. Certification of the election must take place as soon as possible following the passing of the deadline for the election being contested, given no complaints have been filed. D. If complaints are filed, certification of the election shall take place after the disputes have been fully resolved. E. At least two copies of the official returns shall be kept in student government files.
SECTION 11 – COMPLAINTS, RECOUNTS AND HEARINGS
A. All activity fee paying undergraduate students registered at the University of Maine are eligible to file a complaint. • All complaints must be filed between 12:00am of the first day of campaigning and 12:00pm of the second business day following the closing of the polls. • If the complaint of against the FEPC or any member of the FEPC, the complaint shall be filed to the GSS via the Student Government, Inc. office. • All complaints should properly outline who is in violation so the complaint can be heard accordingly • Complaints filed to the FEPC shall be reported to the GSS and dealt with accordingly. • All complaints will contain at least the following information: • Name of the alleged violator. • The specific violation. • Where and when alleged violation occurred. • Evidence, if any. • Names of witnesses and where they can be contacted. • All complaints will be signed by the person(s) making the complaint. • Complainant will be available to FEPC for purposes of conducting investigations and hearings. • The FEPC Chairperson will be responsible for contacting the complainant and alleged violator immediately following initial ballot count(s) for verification of complaint. • No disclosure of complaints will be made until verified by the FEPC Chairperson by contacting the complainant and the alleged violator. • If any complaints are filed, the first hearing shall be held within two business days following the deadline for filing complaints. • The hearings shall be held by the FEPC until all complaints are acted upon. The agenda for hearings shall be as follows: • Call to order. • Statement by the Chair. • Reading of the first complaint filed. • The complainant, or his/her representative, presents cases. • The alleged violator, or his/her representative, responds. • Repeat 3-5 for all complaints. • Set the time of the next hearing. • Adjourn. • All hearings shall be open to the public, but full control shall be reserved in the FEPC. • The FEPC shall discuss complaints of alleged rules violation in a closed meeting; voting on complaints of alleged rules violation will be done by a roll call vote at an open meeting. After all complaints filed have been heard and acted upon by the FEPC, election results will be validated and publicly announced. • If FEPC is accused of violating its guidelines, the GSS will serve as the judiciary body, and shall follow the same procedures. • All candidates shall have the right to request a recount by submitting in person, a written and signed statement requesting such a recount within 24 hours of public notification of the results. A recount shall consist of verifying the electronic tally of votes with IT, and a recount of absentee ballots. a) The candidates involved may be present at the recount. • All candidates shall be informed of the results immediately following the recount. • The results shall be announced within one hour of the conclusion of all necessary FEPC complaint hearings.
SECTION 12 – INAUGURATION OF NEW EXECUTIVES A. The Inaugural Director of the FEPC shall conduct the Inauguration of the new officers of Student Government. This Inaugural shall have been planed far in advance of the ceremony. B. The Inaugural will be held in accordance with the timeline specified in the Student Government Constitution. C. The new officers shall be sworn in by the outgoing officers. In the case of a re-elected executive, the FEPC Chairperson shall swear in the officer.
ARTICLE V INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND GENERAL QUESTIONS
SECTION 1 – REFERENDUM A. A condensed version of a referendum question may be placed on the ballot, in the place of the full text. B. The text of a condensed question must be reviewed and approved by a two-thirds majority of the GSS. C. At least one complete version of any referendum question must be posted at all polling places. If a referendum is conducted using the First Class Intranet voting system, a complete version must be made available using that system for 3 days prior to the vote. D. Referendum votes shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines for Student Government Executive elections, using all applicable guidelines. E. A plurality vote is required for any referendum to pass the General Student Body.
SECTION 2 – INITIATIVE A. Initiative questions must be printed on the ballot in their entirety. B. At least one complete version of any initiative question must be posted at all polling places. If an initiative is conducted using the First Class Intranet voting system, a complete version must be made available using that system for 3 days prior to the vote. C. Initiative votes shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines for Student Government Executive elections, using all applicable guidelines. D. A plurality vote is required for any initiative to pass the General Student Body.
SECTION 3 – GENERAL QUESTIONS A. Any question may be proposed to the General Student Body by the GSS given a 2/3 vote to pose a question. B. At least one complete version of any question must be posted at all polling places. If a question vote is conducted using the First Class Intranet voting system, a complete version must be made available using that system for a full week prior to the vote. C. Referendum votes shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines for Student Government Executive elections, using all applicable guidelines. D. Question vote statistics shall be given to the President of Student Government for action after a vote is held.
ARTICLE VI AMENDMENTS TO THESE GUIDELINES These guidelines may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Senate membership present, provided a quorum exists, at any regular meeting of the GSS and provided that notice of the proposed amendments has been given no later than at the previous meeting.
Any changes made to these guidelines shall not take effect until the following semester. |
