The Elections Committee of Boston College

 

 

Revised: October 22nd, 2012
Developed and Approved by the Elections Committee

November 28th, 2012

 

 

Elections Committee Presidential Campaigning Code, 2012-13

In accordance with the authority bestowed upon it by the Constitution of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (hereafter referred to as “UGBC”), the Elections Committee of Boston College (hereafter referred to as “EC”) will be a body of undergraduate students with the following responsibilities in relation to UGBC senatorial and presidential elections:

  1. Determine the results of all elections and release the results of said elections to the Boston College undergraduate community in a timely manner.
  2. Promote adherence to Boston College’s institutional ethical standards by all campaigns.
  3. Publicize election information to all candidates. This includes but is not limited to deadlines, dates of events, and election rules.
  4. Publicize voting information to the Boston College community. This includes but is not limited to election dates and instructions on how to vote.
  5. Ensure that individual financial circumstances do not disadvantage the ability of any candidate to run a competitive campaign.
  6. Host public events (e.g. forums or debates) in which candidates can share their platforms with voters.
  7. Appropriately apply sanctions to candidates for any conduct that is inconsistent with the expectations outlined in this document.
  8. Remain unbiased in the completion of all of the functions listed above.

Responsibilities of the Candidates

  1. Any student running for UGBC Office must be a full-time undergraduate student in acceptable academic standing with a 2.5 GPA or administrative approval.
  2. Students running for office must also be in good disciplinary standing with the university.
  3. Students may only run for one UGBC office in any given election season.
  4. Candidates for the Presidential and Vice Presidential positions are required to submit a Statement of Candidacy briefly outlining their qualifications, goals, and objectives.
    1. An outline for this statement will be provided by the Elections Committee at the mandatory informational meeting for all prospective candidates.
    2. Candidates will have the option of including a logo and/or photo.
    3. The Statement of Candidacy will represent the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates’ intent to run for office and will be used for publicity by the Elections Committee during the election season.
    4. The statement must be completed and returned to the Elections Committee by a specific deadline.

Expectations

  1. Candidates, along with their campaign teams, are expected to act with integrity throughout the entirety of the campaign season.  As leaders of the Boston College community, it is in the best interest of all candidates to act as role models both within and outside of campaigning. 
  2. Candidates and members of their campaign should respect and be mindful of all other campaign teams, members of the student body, Boston College faculty and staff, and the Elections Committee.
  3. It is in the best interest of the candidates to employ campaign practices that are in accordance with Boston College policies and values.
  4. Candidates are encouraged to infuse energy and creativity into their campaigns and to act in ways that promote the unity of the Boston College community.
  5. The Student Programs Office and the Elections Committee reserves the right to expel a candidate from the elections ballot based on unethical conduct.

 

Section 1: General Campaigning Guidelines
A. Candidate Responsibilities

  1. Candidates or campaign managers must designate one to two Elections Committee Liaisons for the purpose of day to day communications—including complaints—between the EC and the candidates. The EC liaison(s) need not be the candidates or campaign managers. 
  2. The candidate shall be held responsible for all work undertaken on his/her behalf.
  3. Each candidate shall be responsible for assuring that his/her campaign workers are fully acquainted with the Elections Code and the regulations of the EC.

B. Campaign Guidelines

  1. All required forms must be submitted by the date determined by the EC. Any candidate who fails to turn in these materials by the deadline shall be subject to immediate disqualification at the discretion of the EC.
  2. Candidates may not be sponsored or endorsed by off-campus businesses or organizations. Newspapers that are produced on a regular basis, focused on campus news and available to the public are exempt from this (i.e. Heights, Observer, Gavel, etc.).
  3. Candidates may not be sponsored by Boston College organizations. Individual may endorse a candidate from their position in an organization, but no individual may speak on behalf of an organization.
  4. Campaigning is not permitted in the presence of drugs and/or alcohol. Any such violations will be grounds for disqualification of a candidate.
  5. No official UGBC or Student Organization Funding Committee (SOFC) resources, publications, or funds may be used to further any candidacy over another. This shall include but is not limited to the UGBC website.

C. Policies

  1. There shall be no campaigning or information distribution (i.e. electronic, paper, verbal, etc.) before the official start of campaigning as specified by the EC. While social media accounts or campaign websites may be created in order to recruit potential supporters, there can be no platform information posted until the official start of campaigning.
  2. Candidates must abide by Boston College posting policies, which are available in the Student Programs Office and online at: http://www.bc.edu/postings
  3. Candidates must abide by all Residence Life policies while campaigning in the residence hall. Visit http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/reslife/lifeinhalls/residencehalls/flyerdistro.html for approval and posting policies.

D. Campaign Materials

  1. Any copyrighted material may not be used without the written permission of the copyright holder (i.e. the BC athletics logo, other insignias, fonts, or logos owned by BC, or the intellectual property of any private individual or company ).
  2. All campaign paraphernalia must be approved by the SPO (including flyers, quarter sheets, banners, t-shirts, etc.).
  3. Nothing shall be approved which contains a slanderous or defamatory statement or anything inconsistent with the Jesuit/Catholic values of BC. If a statement is determined to be slanderous, the candidate is required to retract the material or statement upon request of the EC. Failure to honor a request by the EC to remove such items may result in sanctions or disqualification.
  4. Candidates and candidate teams are permitted the use of a maximum of three banners during campaigning. One banner may be placed in either the Gasson Quadrangle, the second banner may be placed on the Commonwealth Ave. Parking Garage, and the last banner may be placed on approved areas on either Newton or Upper Campus. If demand exceeds space, the EC will determine who may hang their banner in the Quadrangle by lottery.

E. Electronic Communications

  1. Voicemails, emails, text messages, unsolicited phone calls, any form of communication transmitted via social media, or any other form of unsolicited communication shall not be used in excess to the extent that such communications constitute a nuisance or harassment. Failure to abide by this policy will result in punitive sanctions and may result in disqualification at the discretion of the EC.


Section 2: Specific Presidential Procedures
A. Timeline

  1. All Statement of Candidacy forms and guidelines for the offices of President and Vice President will be available at the mandatory informational meeting for all prospective candidates at the beginning of the election period as set by the EC. These forms must be completed and returned to the EC by the specified deadline.
  2. Exceptions to attendance at the mandatory meeting may be considered by the EC.
  3. Campaigning shall begin no sooner than the time specified by the EC at the mandatory meeting.
  4. Both the primary and final elections must be held over a two class-day period.
  5. Statement of Candidacy forms shall be filed with the EC by the date mandated by the EC. Both Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates must sign this form. Any person who has not filed this form cannot officially campaign.
  6. The candidates shall formally designate one person as a campaign manager and one person as EC liaison and list these individuals on the Statement of Candidacy..
  7. All official communication between the EC and a candidate's campaign team shall be through the designated Elections Committee Liaison(s).
  8. The Elections Committee shall hold a lottery to assign locations to candidates for hanging banners outdoors. No banners may be hung outside of a candidate’s assigned location.

B. Financials

  1. Candidate teams will have a $300 dollar spending limit for the primary campaign. Candidates will be required to submit receipts for all purchases along with a detailed financial summary, which will be audited by EC financial officers.
  2. The EC will approve and print all candidate t-shirts. Candidates will submit their t-shirt design and their vendor order form to the EC. The EC will print t-shirts.
  3. Candidate teams that continue on to final voting will be allotted an additional $150 dollars to spend on their campaign. A supplementary financial form must be submitted by these candidates.
  4. Any donation of materials or services by a third party will be considered in the candidate team’s total spending limit at “Fair Market Value”, or the least expensive posted price of the item that the candidate can find. Copies should be valued at 3 cents / black and white and 6 cents / color.
  5. Any materials used that students would reasonably have free access to, whether through their own means or the means of others, will not be included on a candidate team’s financial form. The EC reserves the right to determine whether or not the material used falls into this category.
  6. Candidates are responsible for funding their own campaigns. Candidates who demonstrate significant financial need have the option of approaching the EC to discuss alternative options for funding. .
  7. Late, falsified, or illegal financial forms would be cause for sanctions against a candidate team.

Section 3: Complaints and Sanctions

  1. All candidates are subject to disqualification by a 2/3 vote of the EC if they have not upheld the ethical standards or regulations outlined in the EC code.
  2. Complaints will be received by the EC through the myBC complaint form website. 
  3. Because it is the purpose of the EC to ensure that all campaigns are being run fairly and responsibly, the EC will review and investigate complaints at its discretion in order to determine whether candidates are adhering to reasonable campaigning practices.
  4. If a complaint is valid, the candidate/s will be informed of the impermissible campaign action.
  •  For most minor complaints, the candidate will receive a warning and will be required to stop the action.
  •  For most major complaints, the candidate will be subject to sanctions and/or disqualification.
  •  For any successive minor complaints or a major complaint, the candidate may lose the right to campaign for a finite amount of time or his/her candidacy may be brought before the EC for a vote on disqualification.
  1. The EC has the discretion to decide on the severity of violations and the ensuing penalties.This includes but is not limited to: suspension of campaigning, turning in campaign materials, and disqualification.
  2. In order for the EC to vote on a candidate disqualification, there must be at least 2/3 of the entire committee present at the time of the final decision making. To disqualify the candidate team, 2/3 of those present must vote in favor of the disqualification.
  3. Candidates may appeal EC decisions if they have sufficient evidence to prove that the EC’s decision was rooted in unfairness or prejudice, or if new evidence regarding the EC’s case against the candidate is discovered following the EC’s decision. All appeals must be brought to the sitting Dean in charge of the EC and/or SPO.

 
Spring 2012 Elections Code (1) 
Created by: UGBC Elections (Elections Committee)
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