Elections Process
Election of Area Representatives: odd years
Election of area representatives from those areas specified in the Senate by-laws shall be conducted during the first week of April within each area. The incumbent representative from each area shall report the results of that area`s election to the Senate President as soon as the results are known, but no later than the end of the first week of April. The Senate President will remind departments/areas of the need for the election by a memorandum sent in mid-March.
Election of Members-At-Large: even years
Nominations for persons to serve as members-at-large are made from the floor during a faculty meeting held within the last three weeks of Term II. Ballots, if required, shall be distributed after the nominations. Persons eligible to vote shall complete a ballot by writing on it the names of those persons the voter wishes to see elected. After completing a ballot, the voter shall hand his/her ballot to a member of the Election Committee who shall place it in the ballot box and have his/her name checked off of the list of eligible voters.
Persons submitting written proxies for absent faculty members shall place a ballot and a form giving permission to act as one`s proxy in an envelope, one ballot and one permission form to an envelope. The name of the person for whom the vote is being cast shall be written on the outside of the envelope. Proxy votes shall be kept in the envelopes until it is determined by the Election Committee that those persons whose names appear on the front of each envelope did not themselves attend the meeting and vote. After that determination, the ballots and permission forms shall be taken from the envelopes and the ballots shall be put with the other votes. The persons receiving the most votes become members of the Faculty Senate. The Senate members serving on the Elections Committee shall supervise the voting and the count of the ballots. The written call of the meeting shall include instructions for using a proxy vote, a list of current area representatives, and a list of current members-at-large whose terms of office are ending.
Election of Officers: every year
A list of area representatives and members-at-large elected to serve in the Senate for the next two years, a nominating ballot, and instructions for completing a nominating ballot shall be sent to each employee eligible for Senate membership. Nominations of oneself or someone else must be submitted in writing to the Elections Committee by the date specified by the committee. Each person nominated, regardless of the number of nominating votes received, shall be contacted by the Elections Committee for permission for that person`s name to be placed on the election ballot. Names of persons who have given permission shall be listed, in alphabetical order, for each position, with a line for write-in`s. Elections shall be held at a date and place established by the Election Committee. A nominee must receive a majority of votes cast in order to be elected to an office. In the event that no individual receives a majority of the votes cast for an office, a run-off election shall be held between the two nominees receiving the highest number of votes. The Election Committee shall establish the date and place and conduct the run-off.
Membership of Election Committee
An Election Committee, consisting of at least three Senate members, shall be elected by the Faculty Senate at its March meeting each year. Nominations of Senate members to serve on the Committee shall be from the floor. Election to the committee shall be by ballot, and write-in`s are permissible. In accepting membership on the committee, each member of the committee agrees that he/she shall not be eligible for election that Spring as one of the officers of the Faculty Senate for the following year. Members of the Election Committee need not be members of the Senate the academic year following the elections; they do need to be members of the Senate during the nominating and electing process.
Duties of Election Committee
- In planning the timetable for the election of Faculty Senate officers, the Committee shall stay within the requirements specified in the Senate by-laws of conducting all of the elections within the last three weeks of Term II (spring).
- The committee shall work cooperatively with the Senate President in running the election of members-at-large, in accordance with the description above. The committee shall handle both the nominating and electing process for officers of the Senate.
- The Committee shall prepare or obtain the following:
(a) a memo to faculty containing a list of persons elected as members-at-large and area representatives who are eligible for nomination and election as a Senate officer and instructions for completing the nominating ballot [see example #1]
(b) a nominating ballot, consisting of the names of each office and space on which names are to be placed in nomination [see example #2]
(c) an election ballot, containing the name(s) of persons nominated for president, first vice-president, and second vice-president, in alphabetical order, and a line for write-in`s for each office [see example #3]
(d) an absentee ballot for election of officers [see example #4]
(e) a list of persons eligible to vote for members-at-large and the officers, according to the Senate by-laws, acquired from the Personnel Office [see example #5]
(f) a form granting permission for someone to serve as one`s proxy during elections of members-at-large [see example 6]
(g) envelopes in which proxy and absentee votes are to be inserted
(h) instructions for voting in the election and using the absentee election ballot
[see example #7].
- After the election of area representatives or members-at-large, the Committee shall send to each faculty member eligible to vote (a) a list of area representatives and members-at-large who will serve in the Senate for the next year and who are therefore eligible to be officers, (b) a nominating ballot, and (c) instructions for completing and returning the nominating ballot.
- After the deadline for submission of nominating ballots, the Election Committee shall contact all persons nominated for each office to seek their permission to have their names placed on the election ballot. Should an individual be nominated for more than one office, that person may choose which office he/she wishes to be nominated for, or the nominee may choose to have his/her name submitted for more
than one office for which nominated.
- The Committee shall prepare the election ballot containing the names of all persons nominated for each office, listed in alphabetical order. For each office, there will be a line for write-in`s.
- The Committee shall distribute to each employee eligible to vote in Senate elections an announcement of the time and place for voting and instructions for absentee voting. The announcement shall include a sample ballot, containing the names of the nominees for each office.
- At least three hours should be allowed for persons to cast their ballots. At the time that persons vote, each voter shall sign the list of eligible voters, next to his/her name and place the ballot in the ballot box. At all times during the voting period, at least two members of the Election Committee shall supervise the voting at the polling place.
- After the voting period, the Election Committee shall count the ballots and prepare an announcement of the results. Persons nominated may be present or have a representative present during the counting of the ballots.
- In the event that an individual whose name has been placed in nomination for more than one office receives a majority of the votes cast in more than one office, that
person shall select the office in which he/she wishes to serve. If only two persons had been nominated for the office that the nominee turns down, the other nominee shall be declared the winner. In the event that more than two persons had been nominated for the office that the nominee turns down, the two persons receiving the next highest number of votes shall participate in a run-off election.
- Should no nominee receive a majority of votes cast for an office, a run-off election shall be conducted between the two nominees with the most votes. The run-off election shall be conducted by the Election Committee in the same manner as the first election.
- All nominating and electing ballots shall be retained in the Senate office in a sealed envelop until the following December.
