CCSC Elections Board

The Columbia College Student Council Elections Board was established and is funded by CCSC to conduct and publicize all the council's elections. It was created in May 2005, replacing the Committee on Elections, Nominations and Appointments (CENA).

Appointments

Columbia College Student Council appoints five Columbia College students to the Elections Board. During their year and thus conceivably the one following, they cannot serve on the Council or run in a Council election. One Chair is chosen to oversee the operations of the Board and is a non-voting member accept in circumstances of a tie. Appointments are made after the CCSC spring elections with any vacant seats filled in the fall.

Adjudication of Disputes

CCSC has no jurisdiction over the Elections Board besides appointments and annual funding for the Board. The Elections Board creates the Candidate Rules and Regulations governing candidate behavior during the elections process. The basic requirements of the document are contained in the Board constitution though amendments usually occur annually. These changes to the Rules are presented to the Council for recommendation, though the Board is not obligated to make any changes. Rules Violations that occur during an election are adjudicated by the Elections Board follow a timeline within the Rules and Regulations. Appeals of Board violation decisions are handled by the Judicial Committee.

Any Columbia College student - or candidate - may appeal election results. Such appeals are handled by the CCSC Judicial Committee. The Judicial Committee then decides whether to uphold or overturn the Elections Board decision. Since the Election Board's creation it has never been overturned by the Judicial Committee. This is largely attributed to high standard of evidence used by the Board and the risk of removal if poor decisions are made. The Judicial Committee is Chaired by the highest ranking Senior on Council and is composed of the remainder of Seniors.

Operation

The internal structure of the Board and internal operation are highly dependent on the Chair and composition of members. No constitutional framework exists. There is a standard Treasurer and Secretary appointed internally. Additionally the Board currently has assigned a Secretary of Publicity and a Vice-Chair. The Vice-Chair is a Chair-in-Training and constitutes the Board's choice for a future leader.

All Board meetings are closed and deliberations about Rules Violations are both closed and confidential with no member allowed to reveal their vote. This is attributed to the highly charged nature of Rules Violations and the need for unity. This subsequently involves a great deal of internal deliberation and usually leads to a lengthy ruling released to the parties named in the Rules Violation.

Board forms, like Candidate and Party Registration forms as well as Debate Question submission and Rules Violations are all handled through the Elections Board website. This website has a non-Board webmaster who is contracted to create the functioning system for the Board.

Voting System

In the 2009 the Elections Board implemented an Instant Run-Off Voting (IRV) system. This system uses preferences in cases where a majority is not won. The external link below has information from Wikipedia. The Elections Board has sole control of the voting system which was designed by Columbia College Information Technology for the specific use of the CCSC Elections Board. The system cannot be edited without several permissions and results are reviewed by the Board, administrative advisors and CCIT prior to release to prevent any tampering.

Past Members

James Bogner, Zaki Anwar, Jill Larson, Norita Mengu, Alex Rosen, Alex Jasiulek, Jeremy Meyers

Contact Information

ccsc-elections@columbia.edu

External links

• CCSC Elections Board website
• IRV voting [1]