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 Disuptes

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.

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.

Current Members

Chair: James Bogner, Zaki Anwar, Jill Larson, Zaki Anwar, Alex Rosen

External links

• CCSC Elections Board website
• IRV voting [1]