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The USG Constitution
ARTICLE XII - ELECTION PROCEDURE
A. Elections for all the USG officers shall be at the end of the spring semester, five (5) weeks prior to CEP week starting on Tuesday and ending on Friday of that week. When spring break figures into this time frame, do not count spring break as a week, only count the weeks school is in session.
B. Elections to all the USG offices must be in compliance with the standards stated in Article IV, Section II, Sub-Section F or Article V, Section II, Sub-Section F. The term of office for all the USG officer positions shall be from June 1st of the election year until May 31st of the following year.
C. There shall be an election ad-hoc committee. The election committee shall conduct all elections for the USG and any other elections deemed appropriate. The USG Judicial Council shall nominate a staff member from Buffalo State College to be the chairperson of the committee, with the approval of the USG Senate, before the last meeting of the fall semester.
D. After the elections all elected officers are required to attend all USG Senate and Executive board meetings and complete half of their predecessor's office hours in addition to a transition period.
E. Committee Role
1. The Election Committee shall consist of seven members: three of which must be impartial students not affiliated with offices or committees of the student government and not an active candidate or supporter of a candidate for student office; one of which shall be a faculty member of the Buffalo State College; one of which must be must be the USG Rules and Regulations Chair (if the RRC is a candidate, the USG Chief Justice will fill the seat, if the Chief Justice is also a candidate, the Senator Pro-Tempore shall fill the seat, if the Senator Pro-Tempore is also a candidate, then the elections committee chair shall select a member of the USG Judicial Council who is not a candidate to fill the seat); one of which must be the advisor to the student government; and one chair.
2. The Committee Chair shall nominate and submit the names of the five remaining members of the Election Committee to the USG Senate for approval by the second regular meeting of the spring semester.
3. The Committee Chairperson shall vote only in the case of a tie.
4. The Committe Chairperson must follow verbatim the guidlines listed in the Election Manual.
5. Each committee member shall have one vote each.
6. Meetings of the committee will be held at a time as agreed upon by the committee members. A majority of the voting members will constitute quorum.
7. The Committee Chair shall convene the Committee in its entirety one week prior to the candidates’ mandatory meeting.
8. The Committee Chair shall convene the Committee in its entirety one week prior to the first day of voting.
a. The committee shall finalize the official ballot for elections.
b. The USG Chief Justice shall present a grievance report to the elections committee, concluding the election grievances process.
9. The Committee Chair shall convene the committee in its entirety one week after the conclusion of the elections to compile the election report.
10. The Election Committee shall conduct all elections for the USG and any other elections deemed appropriate. They shall publicize the offices being contested (at least 21 days before petitions are due), the deadline for completed election application packets, the purpose of all referenda, and the time and place of election, and they shall determine the eligibility of the candidates and the validity of petitions.
11. The Election Committee shall make a committee report at the USG Senate meetings on the operation of elections and shall present at the next regular Senate meeting following the elections an evaluation of the elections.
12. The Election Committee shall distribute election information through the campus media (including a copy of the ballot, as it will read to be published in the campus newspaper) prior to the election.
F. Procedures
1. All elections shall be conducted using the same equipment as State and Local Elections, unless a more sophisticated (i.e. computer based elections) method is approved by the Senate.
2. The placement of names on the ballot shall be done by drawing the names of the candidates out of a container at random, corresponding to the order in which the names are drawn. Write-in candidates shall not be placed on the ballot but will be written into the election booth while voting.
3. Voting Procedures
a. A poster shall be placed by the polls indicating the fact that an election is being held, times that a person may vote, and a sample ballot.
b. Rosters shall be available indicating eligible voters: activity fee-paying students if applicable.
c. As persons come to vote they must;
1) Present a valid I.D. or valid State I.D.
2) Initial the roster
3) Receive and vote only on those ballots to which they are eligible
4) Persons whose names do not appear on the roster must present receipt of registration and activity fee payment.
d. Persons manning the polls shall:
1) Verify the identity of those voting;
2) Check the voter's name on the list of all eligible voters;
3) Present only those ballots to which the voter is entitled;
4) NOT EXPRESS AN OPINION ON THE CANDIDATE OR ISSUES TO THE VOTERS.
4. The candidates will fill vacancies in the Senate no later than the third regular meeting of the fall semester with the next highest number of votes in the regular student elections. Failure to attend will result in your seat being filled by other applicants.
G. Candidate Regulations
1. Each candidate must be in compliance with the requirements of USG office as stated in Article IV, Section II, Sub-Section F or Article V, Section II, Sub-Section F. First semester freshman or transfers must also meet the same requirements by the end of the spring semester of a given election year. Candidates for College Senate, F.S.A., College Council and Student Assembly need not be activity-fee paying students.
2. Candidates for positions on the Executive Branch (the USG President, Vice President, Treasurer and Administrative Vice Presidents) and the USG Senate must be matriculated undergraduate students enrolled for a minimum of nine hours.
3. Candidates may not run for more than one Executive Branch Office. In the event of a candidate winning both an Executive Branch and a Senate position, written notification of which position will be accepted shall be submitted to the Election Committee by 4:00 pm, no later than four business days after election polling closes.
4.) If a candidate misses the deadline of the application and still wishes to run, they may still run if they have a petition of one hundred undergraduate student signatures and comply with the below:
a. Guidelines
1) Must submit a completed election application packet to the Elections Committee no later than twenty-four (24) hours after the missed mandatory meeting.
2) Must turn in their completed list of one hundred undergraduate student signatures within seventy-two (72) hours of the missed mandatory meeting.
3) Write-In Candidates - If a candidate misses the deadline for the applications and still wishes to run they may as a write-in candidate.
4) Write-In Candidates must comply with all election and campaign rules.
5. Campaign Spending
a. A party (ticket) candidate shall be defined as any individual for nomination in an election running on a common slate with one or more individuals. An independent candidate shall be defined as any individual running singly on a slate.
b. Party Candidates
1) Each party candidate for the USG Executive Branch (President, Executive Vice President, Treasurer) will have a seventy-five dollar ceiling on the total amount that may be expended on campaign materials (posters, flyers, buttons, media advertising, balloons, etc.) Each independant and write-in candidate shall have a one-hundred-and-fify dollar ceiling.
2) Each party candidate for the USG Administrative Vice Presidents offices shall have a fifty-dollar ceiling on the total amount that may be expended on campaign materials. Each independant and write-in candidate shall have a one-hundred dollar ceiling.
3) Each party candidate for a USG Senator position shall have a twenty five-dollar ceiling on the total amount that may be expended on campaign materials. Each independant and write-in candidate shall have a fify dollar ceiling.
c. Individuals lacking sufficient funds to run may request to enter into the election contest in forma pauperis: this would entitle the candidate to fifty standard election posters and 200 flyers flyers (provided through USG Press Services). This candidate's spending limit will then be half that of a party candidate for the corresponding office. (USG only provides copies for the 50 posters and 200 flyers. USG does not provide financial assistance to the candidate).
d. Each party or independent candidate will be required to submit copies of all receipts of campaign material purchases to the Election Committee for verification forty-eight hours prior to the beginning of the election.
e. Donations of campaign materials are permitted but receipts of their actual costs must be submitted and will count against their respective ceiling.
f. Failure to submit all receipts in accordance with the 48-hour rule, falsifying receipts or exceeding the respective limit will result in Election Committee action and possible disqualification of a candidate. Each candidate will be given a copy of the Ad-Hoc Committee Guidelines upon picking up his/her petition for candidacy.
H. Buffalo State College Student Senators
1. Of the 12 student seats on the Senate, 10 shall be filled by undergraduate activity fee paying students, and the remaining 2 shall be reserved for graduate students.
a. Should no graduate students win election for the 2 seats, they shall be filled by nomination of the USG President, with confirmation of the USG Senate, by undergraduate activity fee paying students.
2. Of the 10 undergraduate seats, 3 of them shall be a two year term seat.
a. Only undergraduate students with two years remaining in their respective course of study are eligible for a two year seat.
b. If no eligible two year seat undergraduate students file election paperwork by the election deadline, the remaining seat(s) shall revert back to a one year term seat(s).
I. Grievances
1. All election grievances shall be handled by the USG Judicial Council (in which case, the Election Committee Chair shall be an ex-officio member of the Council).
2. Election grievances shall follow standard grievance procedures no later than one week prior to the official voting dates.
3. Any election irregularities may be filed with the USG Judicial Council following standard grievance procedures within once week of notice of the irregularity.
J. Results
1. The Election Committee shall compile election results. Results of elections shall not be released until all votes have been counted and verified, but final certification shall be effective no latter than five business days after the last day of polling. Counting of ballots will not commence until the polls for that election are closed.
2. The exact number of votes shall be determined from the roster of voter's initials. The ballots are counted to determine the exact number of ballots cast. If there are more ballots cast than voter initials on the roster, it will be determined if the excess ballots affect the outcome of an Executive Branch race. If they might affect the outcome, the election will be invalidated.
3. If more than 20% of the votes in a specific election are certified invalid, the entire election shall be declared invalid.
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