700: Elections

701 ASCWI General Election

701.01 The General Election shall be held annually no later than the week preceding Spring Break of the academic year.

701.02 The purposes of the General Election shall be:

701.02.01 To elect the members of the ASCWI Senate for the following year;

701.02.02 To elect the ASCWI President and Vice-President for the following year; and

701.02.03 To vote on any ballot issues that may be proposed to the membership of ASCWI.

701.03 The General Election Calendar shall include:

701.03.01 The dates of the filing period;

701.03.02 The date(s) of the meeting(s) for candidates;

701.03.03 The date campaigning begins;

701.03.04 The date candidates' filing petitions are due;

701.03.05 The dates of the general election;

701.03.06 The date by which all campaign material must be taken down;

701.03.07 The date campaigning officially ends;

701.03.08 The date candidates' expense declarations are due;

701.03.09 The date by which all violations are due;

701.03.10 The tentative date(s) of the Presidential and Senate debates(s) or forum(s).

701.04 It is the responsibility of the candidates to read and abide by the Election Codes and Election Calendar.

701.05 All candidates, whether they be declared or write-in, who shall be seeking the position of ASCWI President, ASCWI Vice President, or ASCWI Senator shall be required to meet Officer Eligibility Requirement.

702 Filing

702.01 Filing shall be defined as the submission of an official Declaration of Candidacy and the receiving of an Election Packet.

702.02 Candidates must file for themselves, except in the case of the Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket for which only one need be present to file.

702.03 All candidates shall at the time of filing submit an official Declaration of Candidacy that shall include the candidate's full legal name, area/local address and phone number, the position being sought, and the candidate’s signed statement that all information on the form is true and correct and may be verified by ASCWI and their Advisor.

702.04 All candidates shall at the time of filing receive an Election Packet, which shall contain the Election calendar, Petitions of Candidacy, and expense declaration forms.

703 Candidates' Meeting

703.01 The Candidates' Meeting shall be organized and conducted by the Election Committee on the date set by the Election Calendar and shall be open to the public.

703.02 Attendance at the Candidates' Meeting shall be mandatory for all candidates, and for the sponsor(s) of all ballot issues.

703.02.01 Failure to attend shall be considered an Election Code violation and resulting in removal from the ballot.

703.03 At the candidates' meeting ballot positions for all candidates shall be chosen through a random drawing. The name(s) drawn first for a position shall be placed first on the ballot, and each succeeding draw shall be placed below the name previously drawn.

704 Election Codes

704.01 The ASCWI Election Codes shall govern all ASCWI elections, and as part of the ASCWI By-laws, shall be amended only by majority vote of the seated Senate membership.

704.02 Day to day authority and control of all ASCWI elections shall be delegated to and invested in the ASCWI Election Committee and overseen by the ASCWI Adviser.

704.02.01 The Election Committee enforces the Election Codes by:

i. Issuing written and/or verbal warnings to the person(s) in violation;

ii. Removing any campaign or election material in violation;

iii. Filing formal complaints of Election Code Violations or consider immediate disqualification or invalidation of candidates or ballot issues.

704.02.02 Informing ASCWI that an election is forthcoming, and to advertise such an event;

704.02.03 Coordinate filing procedures for candidates and ballot issues;

704.02.04 Validate candidate and ballot issue petitions;

704.02.05 Conduct the candidates' meetings;

704.02.06 Act in a resource capacity with regard to the Election Codes for all interested parties;

704.02.07 Coordinate polling sites on days of elections;