Each student club must outline their election process in their Constitution. Student clubs must follow the election processes outlined below by both UTMSU and the University to ensure democratic processes are followed.
UTMSU Election Process for Clubs
- All registered clubs must hold an election by the end of February
- Elections must be open to all interested candidates that are UTMSU registered members of the club
- Advertising for elections is mandatory and is to take place over a time period that lasts for a minimum of one week
- Advertising must be visible throughout the campus.
- Mass emails should be sent to all UTMSU registered members of the club as well as the Campus Groups Coordinator and VP Campus Life prior to the week of accepting nominations.
- All elections must have a CRO (Chief Returning Officer) supervising the electoral process
- The CRO must be unbiased and must be approved by the club executive and Campus Groups Coordinator
- A Nomination period following the advertising period should be set for at least one week
- A Campaign week will be held in the week following the closure of the Nomination period
- Elections are to take place at a location designated for this purpose by the clubs’ executive in the week following campaigning, consisting of a period of two (2) or three (3) days.
- In the case of a by-election, clubs must still follow the above regulations.
- If no one opts to run in the election for a particular position, the former executives have the right to collectively appoint a suitable candidate for that position.
- This candidate must be subsequently approved by the VP Campus Life
- Any complaints that arise during the course of elections or as a result of elections must be brought to the attention of the Campus Groups Coordinator in a written format within 72 hours of the election
- The Clubs Committee withholds the right to nullify any club election results if evidence of gross misconduct has been found in the operation of the election
- Non-occurrence of elections will result in the immediate effect of cancellation of club status
- Non-submission of election results will result in later loss of club status through the Clubs Committee.
- If undemocratic election procedures are suspected, the election results or even the club status may be put forward to the Clubs Committee by the VP Campus Life.
Senior Election Officers
Due to the high volume of student clubs, the Senior Election Officers for elections are usually obtained from other clubs that hold no interest in the election result.
The SEO must make an appointment with the Student Engagement Coordinator at least two (2) weeks prior to the election date in order to discuss their role and sign an Agreement of the Senior Election Officer for Use of the Election System to use U-elecT as an admin.
The SEO must have the following information:
- Name of club
- SEO's UTORid
- Document proving status as SEO (e.g. Letter from club executive, meeting minutes approving the SEO selection)
Click here to request an appointment
Appeal Process
In the event that an election is questioned and requested for an appeal, the appeal must be sent to the Clubs Coordinator at UTMSU to bring up to ASAC. Upon review, if gross misconduct was exhibited, election results will be nullified.