The Elections Commission

Introduction to the Student Assembly and SA Offices (from the Commission)

The Student Assembly (SA) is the student's government at the College of William and Mary. It represents the students' voice to the faculty, administration, community and State. It also provides services for members of the College community. It is an integral part of life at the College and is the cornerstone of all student activities, since it annually provides more than $500,000 in funding for clubs and organizations.

The SA has four branches. Members of independent agencies and the judicial branch, called the Review Board, are appointed. The secretaries, deputy secretaries and assistant secretaries of executive branch departments are appointed, though the President and Vice President of the Assembly are elected in the General Election each spring.

The legislative branch includes the 22-member Senate, six of whom are graduate students elected by their schools' respective student governments, four of whom are freshmen elected each fall and the other twelve of whom are elected in the General Election each spring. There are four Senators from each undergraduate class. The Senate internally chooses a Chairperson and Secretary.

The legislative branch also includes the Undergraduate Council and the Graduate Council. The Grad Council is made up of graduate school officers elected by their schools. "Undergrad" consists of five officers from each undergraduate class: a President, Vice President for Advocacy, Vice President for Social Affairs, Secretary and Treasurer. Class officers are elected in the General Election except freshmen, who are elected in the fall.

The term of all elected offices is one year. There are no term limits.

Introduction to Student Assembly Elections (from the Commission)

Many offices of the SA are elected by William and Mary students at two times during the year. "Freshmen Elections" are held on the third Thursday in September, "General Elections" are held on the second Thursday after spring break. The basis for elections is in Article V of the SA Constitution (http://sa.wm.edu/agencies/aia/constitution.php) and in Chapter 4 of Title 5 of the Code of the Student Assembly (http://sa.wm.edu/agencies/aia/code/s5-4.php).

The Constitution guarantees that:

• every student enrolled at the College may cast one secret ballot in each election in which he or she is eligible to vote,
• any full-time, degree-seeking student at the College may run for or hold no more than one office,
• no student who is on judicial or Honor probation may seek election without the consent of the Elections Commission,
• no one seek office with the knowledge that he or she will not be enrolled as a full-time student at the College during all or part of his or her expected tenure, and
• no student may seek to represent a constituency of which he or she is not a part.

Undergraduate Senatorial Elections are by plurality, with each Class' candidates chosen together on the same ballot. Undergraduate Class Officers and the President and Vice President are elected using the instant runoff system. The President and Vice President are elected together on a candidate ticket. The candidate ticket may not change less than seven days before the election.

Instant runoff voting (IRV) is a voting system that eliminates the possibility of a candidate winning that does not have a majority. Traditional "simple majority voting" systems are flawed in that they allow candidates with only a plurality, not a majority, to win the election. In IRV, voters rank candidates in order, such as #1, #2, #3, etc. If there is no immediate majority winner (someone with 50% or more of the #1 votes), then a runoff is tallied by eliminating the candidate with the least #1 votes from the race. The second choice votes from those ballots are then added to the tallies of the other candidates, and the process is repeated until someone has a majority of votes. Voters may vote for as few or many of the candidates they like, and voters may write-in candidates as well.

SA elections are conducted online using the website and elections system of the Student Information Network (http://sin.wm.edu). This means of polling is announced publicly at candidate information sessions and through campus publicity. However, if an unforeseen problem arises, a change in method does not constitute an unfair advantage to any candidate. It is assumed that all candidates are treated equally under any method of polling.

Officers elected in the General Election are inaugurated on the second Tuesday of April following their Election. Freshman officers are inaugurated at the first Senate meeting following their election. All elected Officers of the Assembly, at their Inauguration, swear that they will faithfully execute the office they have been elected to, and to the best of their ability, will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Student Assembly. All officers are bound to this affirmation.

SA elections are administered by an independent agency, the Elections Commission, whose roles and regulations are found in §5.4 of the Code of the Student Assembly. The Commission is responsible for:

• the fair and impartial administration of all elections for all popularly elected undergraduate Offices of the Assembly,
• the fair and impartial administration of referendum elections, and
• to enforce the requirements of §5.4 of the Code.

The President appoints one Chair and four Commissioners to the Elections Commission. All members of the Commission are confirmed by the Senate. The Commission may determine its other officers necessary to conducting elections.

No member of the Commission may have a public interest in the outcome of an election. Public interests include, but are not limited to, personal gain resulting from election results, public statements prior to an election regarding candidates or offices sought and collective gains by a campus organization affiliated with a member of the Commission. If such a public interest is found during the tenure of a Commission member, he or she must remove him or herself from the deliberations of the Commission.

The Commission must hold all meetings in an open and public manner, and is not permitted to go into closed session except meetings involving infractions. All forms and documents of the Commission must be posted on the Student Assembly website.

The Commission organizes events to promote voting and give candidates exposure including "Meet and Greet" events in freshmen dormitories and a televised Presidential / Vice Presidential debate.

The Elections Commission maintains polling places throughout the campus where students may vote on Election Day. Non-partisan posters will clearly mark each public polling place. The Elections Commission will furnish staff to work at the polls. These staff members may not be candidates in the election, nor may they have a public interest in the election outcome.

Election results must be approved and certified by the Commission as a whole prior to public or private dissemination of results. This certification process will vary by polling method, but must end with presentable evidence of vote totals for all candidates in all races, including all levels of votes in the instant runoff system. At the first Senate meeting following the election, the Commission must present a report of the election proceedings.