Election Code of the
Student Government Association
Article I: Purpose
Article II: Regular Fall Elections and Nominations
ArticleIII: Regular Spring Elections and Nominations
Article IV: Write-In Candidates
ArticleV: Procedure in case of a Tie / Special Elections
Article VI: Campaign Procedures
ArticleVII: The Ballot
Article VIII: Polling Locations and Regulation
Article IX: Enforcement of Election Rules and Ballot Counting
Article X: The Scope and Authority of the Election Committee
Section I. Election Committee
1. The Election Committee members shall be appointed by The Student Body President
2. The Committee shall be made up of at least five (5) members.
3. No chairperson or member of the Committee shall be a candidate for any SGA election, including Texan Rider, during the term in which they serve.
4. The Student Body Vice President will serve as Chairperson of the Election Committee and will be an Ex-Officio member.
5. The advisor of the Student Government Association shall also serve as an Ex-Officio member of the Elections Committee.
6. Duties of the Election Committee shall be defined as the following:
1. Execute the election rules as defined by the Election Code.
2. Serve as the official election judges.
3. Tabulate the results for all elections held by the student body.
4. Provide a copy of the Election Code to each candidate for all student body elections.
5. Inform all candidates of the rules and regulations of the election.
6. Make election rules available to any student desiring a copy.
7. Investigate and assess sanctions against candidates who violate the Election Code rules and regulations.
8. Conduct official hearings concerning violations of the election code.
9. Meet periodically to review the Election Code and forward suggestions to Student Government for approval.
10. To ensure fairness of all elections.
11. The election committee shall hold a pre-election meeting to:
- Discuss the election code in detail.
- Answer any election related questions/concerns.
- Officially announce all eligible candidates.
- Determine the ballot order of the candidates.
- Obtain and discuss other information to be posted on the ballot (pictures, biography information, etc.)
Section II Authority of Election Committee
Complaint Procedures
Reporting Violations or Filing Protest
- The Election Committee shall consider all requests for recounts and protests.
- Any student who wishes to report an alleged violation of the Election Code must do so by filing a written account of the occurrence of the alleged violation to the Election Committee in the Office of Student Life anytime prior to the election, or up to two university working days following the close of the election polls.
- The complaint should be submitted in writing with the date, time, and description of the incident in question, as well as specifying the section of the Election Code in question.
- When a complaint is filed, it should include the name of the person filing the complaint along with the name of the candidate against whom the complaint is filed. No anonymous complaints will be accepted.
- Upon confirmation of a scheduled hearing by the Election Committee, the accused candidate will receive a copy of the complaint filed against him/her.
Committee Responsibilities
- The Election Committee shall within a time frame of two days of the protest filing deadline, to determine the validity of the protest, and submit their findings to the Dean of Students immediately following the meeting.
- Any additional evidence or violations that are uncovered in the process of research shall be included in the protest. The Election Committee shall consider violations by a candidate other than the defendant that are uncovered in the process of research as separate protests.
a. Procedures for Hearing
- If the Election Committee deems a hearing necessary, it shall be held within ten (10) university working days after the last day of the election. The Election Committee shall give at least two (2) university working days notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to all parties involved.
- Each candidate shall be allowed ten (10) minutes to present his/her case. At this time, evidence may be presented to the Election Committee (photographs, written statements, etc.) The contesting candidate shall be allowed to speak first.
- Each candidate shall be allowed one, five (5) minute rebuttal, with the defending party speaking last.
- The Election Committee will then, if necessary, question each candidate.
- Each party will be allowed one, three (3) minute closing statement.
- The Election Committee shall meet in private to deliberate on the hearings and the written evidence provided, and render a decision. Within one (1) university working day thereafter, the committee shall submit to the parties a written report including the grounds for the decision.
- No Election Committee member who is running in the election in question will be eligible to serve on the appeals board.
- Both parties involved in the complaint have the right to protest a committee member in the hearing based on a conflict of interest. The Election Committee will vote as to whether or not the protested member must step down from the hearing board.
- Only members of the Election Committee, the Dean of Student Life, the contesting candidate, and the accused candidate may be present in the hearing room. All persons present at the hearing shall treat the matters discussed therein with confidence.
- Extenuating circumstances may cause the University to deviate from the defined time frames.
- Resolution of the Complaint and Sanctions
- The Election committee reserves the right to use its discretion in the interpretation of the Election Code.
- The Election Committee will take two votes. The first vote will determine if the accused is responsible or not responsible for the alleged violation. If a simple majority finds the accused responsible, the Election Committee will take a second vote to determine the sanction.
- The Election Committee shall:
- Determine that a violation of the Election code did not occur, or;
- Determine that a violation of the Election Code did occur but was not of a serious nature. In this event the Election Committee shall determine that a sanction is deemed unnecessary, or;
- Determine that a violation of the Election Code did occur and was of a serious nature. In this event the Election Committee shall take one of the following actions:
I. Issue a cease and desist order enjoining the actions constituting the violations to remain in effect for the duration of the campaign period.
II. Determine a sanction as deemed appropriate by them
III. Disqualify a candidate.
d. In the event that a candidate is disqualified:
- If a candidate is disqualified and he/she is one of the two (2) candidates with the highest number of votes, and no one has the majority, the two (2) candidates other than the disqualified candidate, with the greatest combined number of votes shall be certified as the candidates for run off.
- If the disqualified candidate received a majority of the votes cast in the election, a new election between all other candidates shall be held.
- If a candidate other than the disqualified receives a majority of the votes counted, including those votes for the disqualified candidate, the election results shall stand.
- If a candidate is disqualified during a run off election, the candidate from the general election with the next greatest number of votes will enter the run off election.
- If a candidate is disqualified and he/she is one of only two candidates, the candidate remaining shall be declared the victor.
- Any disqualified candidate shall lose the right to run for office for fourteen months from the date of the offense.
Article XI: Declaration of Victory
Article XII: Term of Office
Article XIII: Amendment to the Election Code
Full Version of Election Code(pdf)
