Bylaw 300 – A Bylaw Respecting Elections, Appointments and Vacancies

1. Eligibility

1. ISA’s Undergraduate Council: Every undergraduate general member who is not graduating before the end of the term shall be eligible for the undergraduate council positions.

2. ISA’s Graduate Council: Every graduate general member who is not graduating before the end of the term shall be eligible for the graduate council positions.

3. ISA Board: Every general member shall be eligible for the board positions who are not graduating before the end of the term based on their academic stature. Joint candidates shall contest for a single board position provided joint candidates are from different nationalities.

2. General Election Process

   1. Election Office:

      1. Appointments: The C.R.O (Chief Returning Officer) shall be appointed by the Councils based on the board nominations in November or before. The C.R.O may also appoint a D.R.O and/or an election office staff at their discretion. Every general member is eligible to nominate themselves for the C.R.O position.

         1. The C.R.O, D.R.O and election office staff need to be unbiased, with absolutely no conflict of interest to ensure a fair election.

      2. The C.R.O shall be responsible for running the board and council elections of the ISA.

   2. The ISA Board Elections shall take place in February. The ISA Councils' elections shall take place in March. The ISA shall decide to conduct any single or multiple Executive portfolio elections separately at any other timeline.

   3. There shall be eight (8) elected board positions, six (6) elected undergraduate council positions and seven (7) elected graduate council positions.

      1. Only three (3) graduate council members and four (4) undergraduate council members can be citizens of the same country including board members. Candidates with the least number of proportion of votes by the total votes cast for that seat shall be eliminated.

      2. The seats of the council and board shall be reserved as per the Bylaw 400.

   4. The Councils shall appoint their respective chancellor in the respective council meeting.

      1. Respective council members are eligible to nominate any respective general/council member.

   5. Graduate general members can contest and/or vote for the position of Vice President Graduate Affairs and Vice President Academic.

   6. Undergraduate general members can contest and/or vote for all other executive positions, with the exception of Vice President Graduate Affairs and the Vice President Academic position.

   7. General members enrolled in a particular faculty can only contest for the respective faculty seat in the respective council.

   8. The quorum for the General Board elections shall be a minimum of 500 general members of the ISA and for the General Council elections shall be a minimum of 100 general members of the ISA. The quorum for byelections shall be 50% of general elections.

   9. Voter Eligibility:

      1. Every undergraduate general member is eligible to vote for the undergraduate council and undergraduate board positions. Every graduate general member is eligible to vote for the graduate council and graduate board positions.

      2. General members enrolled in a particular faculty can only vote for the candidates contesting for their respective faculty seat for the respective council elections.

3. Transition

   1. Board members shall transition on April 30 at 11:59 pm MST.

   2. Councillors shall transition in the March Council meeting.

   3. The Board (primarily the President) along with advisors is responsible for the creation and implementation of a transition strategy.

4. Duties and rights of the C.R.O

   1. The C.R.O. (Chief Returning Officer) shall oversee the organization, logistics, promotion, and execution of the elections, as well as the distribution of the required information to all the candidates.

   2. The C.R.O shall release the nomination packages a minimum of twenty-one (21) days prior to the general election voting date along with the complete timeline of the elections. Byelections shall not be subject to the 21-days nomination timeline.

      1. All candidates shall follow the timelines to maintain their eligibility status, and failure to adhere to the timeline shall cause disqualifications at the C.R.O’s discretion.

      2. The C.R.O shall regularly update the public portal to ensure that all nominations received are publicly available.

   3. Results:

      1. The C.R.O shall declare the election results to the public on the election results’ announcement date; and,

      2. The C.R.O shall submit the results report to the Board and Councils for ratification.

   4. Complaints and Rulings

      1. Complaints during the election process shall be sent to the C.R.O. not more than 48 hours from the moment the potential contravention happened;

      2. The C.R.O. shall call for a hearing between the parties involved, to take place not more than 24 hours after the complaint was received; and,

      3. The C.R.O. shall decide on the case at the end of the hearing and communicate the results to the parties involved, in the following 12 hours.

   5. All C.R.O decisions/rulings shall be challenged/appealed for the final verdict in the Hearing Board.

5. Election Rules:

1. 1. ISA Councils and Board shall create an Election Code of Conduct as per suggestions from CRO, and the code shall be applicable to all candidates.

   2. The candidates cannot contest for more than one position at the same time.

   3. Current board members contesting in elections need to formally take a leave of absence from the nomination deadline till the elections result announcement.

   4. The C.R.O shall enforce the Election Code of Conduct and punish candidates at their discretion for violation of the election rules.

      1. All fines and punishments shall be challengeable in the Hearing Board.

6. Referendum or Plebiscite

   1. A referendum/plebiscite could be initiated by any member of the ISA, respective councils shall approve the plebiscite/referendum. The referendum shall be binding to the councils that approve them whereas a plebiscite will not be binding. A referendum binding ISA shall require both councils and board to approve or only the Advisory Committee approval.

      1. Rules related to a referendum or plebiscite shall be decided by the councils at the approval/initiation stage.

7. Joint Candidates, Vacancies, and Uncontested Positions

   1. Uncontested General Election Positions

      1. All uncontested positions shall be filled with an immediate by-election or by a mechanism decided by the councils at their discretion.

   2. Vacancies caused due to resignations, impeachments, or expulsions:

      1. The respective council shall appoint a general member for the vacant respective council position. Board positions shall require a nomination from the Board.

      2. The council can decide to fill a vacant position by by-election or by a mechanism decided by the councils at its discretion.

      3. The board shall temporarily appoint any general member to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of the vacant position until the formal appointment in the next council meeting.

   3. Joint Candidates

      1. Any board member can request a joint candidate for its portfolio, the respective board member shall nominate a general member and the respective council shall vote to make the appointment. Board could vote on the nominated individual to make a temporary appointment until the next Council Meeting.

      2. A joint candidate can solemnly resign or be impeached, thus leaving the full office/portfolio to the other candidate or requesting the respective council to fill the vacancy caused.