UC Outlines Elections Procedures

The Undergraduate Council detailed the timeline for presidential elections and the referenda procedure in its general meeting Sunday.

Sunday marked the first day in which potential candidates were able to submit declaration forms. Candidates will have until the following Monday to garner the 150 requisite student signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. The campaigning period will begin on Nov. 11, and voting will run from Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 at noon.

The UC Election Commission, independent of the Council, oversees all elections and has the authority to level sanctions against candidates.

Matthew C. Estes '18, chair of that commission, which consists of four other undergraduates, outlined a long list of election rules at the meeting. Few changes were made to the rules this year, but Estes did modify a restriction prohibiting the solicitation of candidate signatures via Facebook.

“[The rule] doesn't seem like it’s very reasonable,” Estes said before the UC approved the change on Sunday.

In an interview Saturday, Estes assured that there would not be any errors with the voting system this year. Last year, the Election Commission had originally rolled out voting without a Hare-Clark ranking system —required by the Council’s constitution—and switched to the method after thousands of votes had already been cast.

Estes said that he also plans to require that candidates sign a contract during the election process, indicating that they are aware of the rules and possible sanctions.

“We’re going to be as judicious as possible in campaign stays and punishments in the form of loss of funding,” Estes noted.

UC President Gus A. Mayopoulos ’15, who won the election on a joke ticket last year with Samuel B.Clark ’15, openly encouraged all Council representatives and undergraduates to consider running for the presidency.

“I encourage everyone in this room and everyone not in this room to run,” Mayopoulos said. He added that he hoped UC representatives could keep any “divisiveness” or competition in the election outside of the Council’s general meetings.

Council members also formally passed funding for club sports this semester, allocating about 50 percent more money to those groups at the same time that they alleged the Athletics Department has cut funding.

—Staff writer Noah J. Delwiche can be reached at noah.delwiche@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @ndelwiche.