running elections

It all starts with having the right people

Whether building a large company, a non-profit organization, or a volunteer group, it all starts with the people you bring into your team. So it’s important to have the right people in the right positions. Elections are your chance to build a great team.

Great leaders:

Are hard working
Share information with others on the team
Are collaborative and communicative
Are able to take constructive criticism and feedback
Share workload with others on the team (they don't try to do everything themselves)

starting off on the right foot

This is the Junior Common Room at Winters College

Book A Nice Room

The McLaughlin JCR in dark and depressing. Students don't like it, and it looks bad on social media photos. Try to avoid it. But the Winters JCR (see photo) is a much better choice. The New Student Centre (YUSC) has beautiful rooms that can be booked as well.

The good rooms go fast, so we have to book early! See our Room Booking List for more info and photos.

Bring A Positive Attitude

You want the first interaction with new UPSC team to be positive and set the tone for the rest of the year.
Combining voting & elections with a pizza party.
Bring a speaker and play some music in the room. Can turn off the music during election part.
If you book the JCR at Winters College you can ask to use the games table, and make it an election night + games night

Do It The Before End of Year Exams! (When possible!)

The whole Start of Year Top Priority Checklist can be done the year before! If you do it before the year ends, you'll have a more relaxed, fun start of the next year.

Room Bookings are easier because we still have club status.
It helps with the Transition process. The new executive team can meet last year's executive team and ask questions and get tips. It also gives everyone time to do password handoff, transition briefing notes, etc. (see section 14 of our Constitution)
Better executive team. Our events from the year are still fresh in students’ minds; they will still be engaged. More people will come out to the event - so we can get a bigger talent pool and ultimately elect high quality people to the executive team. We want smart, dedicated people who work hard and want to make UPSC shine!

running elections

We have to run elections a specific way otherwise we'll be disqualified by YFS and SCLD - they won't let us renew our club status.

Phase 1: Election Announcement & Nomination Period

Book the Room! And don't book it on a Friday because no one will show up.
Appoint a "Chief Returning Officer" (CRO). This position is not part of UPSC. It is a neutral position that is appointed for an election. The CRO can be any person who does not have an interest in winning a position in the election. Possible examples include a POLS staff member, professor, representative from SCLD, former UPSC exec, alumni, etc.
Begin Election Process. Election is announced via email and/or social media. The announcement should contain:
- Positions and their responsibilities
- A statement about required time commitment
- The date and location or website address of the election
- Invitation to submit Nomination Package. Nomination Package must include:
  - - Full name
    - Student number
    - Email address
    - 1 page of campaigning material. Can be a poster or a written statement detailing why they are a good candidate for the position
- Campaign material must not be offensive, and must stay on topic.

Phase 2: Campaign Period

Send out announcement listing the candidates, the positions they are running for, and link to their campaign document on our website. Campaign documents cannot be posted on campus, but can be brought to the voting event. Spending money on campaigning is optional, but students can't spend more than $25 on campaigning materials.

Phase 3: Voting

If voting in person (e.g. during pizza party/games night election event):

CRO announces a position on the UPSC Exec Team.
Each of the candidates have a chance to stand up and talk to the group about why they're the best for that job. If they have any campaigning materials, they can present them.
After everyone has had a chance to speak, everyone in the room votes on the best person for that position (by paper ballot).
The votes are put into an envelope or box and counted.
The winner of that position is announced.
Repeat for the next position, until all the positions have been filled.
Take photo of new exec team and post to social media.

important election info

Election Timeline

There will be times when we have to rush things. That's part of being a student. But we do have to include each phase in the election process in order to be verified by SCLD & YFS. The timeline can be between 2 and 4 weeks. That means Nomination (Phase 1) can happen Week 1, Campaigning (Phase 2) in Week 2, and then Voting (Phase 3) at the end of Week 2.

Emergency Elections

An election can be called in certain special circumstances, such as in the case of a vacancy which needs to be filled (due to resignation, removal from office, or other circumstances). An emergency election can be run on a faster timeline but a CRO must still oversee the election process and count all votes.

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