Elections Guide

This guide is intended to help the Chief Returning Officer (CRO), who is responsible for running the elections to select the club's executive officers.

Before reading this guide, please ensure you are familiar with the elections procedure outlined in the CSC Constitution. This guide will focus on suggested implementation details, and does not replace the official procedure documented in the constitution.

In-person Elections

Structure

There are 6 main parts to the in-person event. Suggested timestamps and lengths of each part are provided with reference to the start of the elections buffer time.

• Preparation (T0 minus 3 weeks, 2 day (preferably more))
• Nomination period (T0 minus 1 week, 2 day)
• Grace period (T0 minus 2 day)
• Absentee voting (T0 minus 1 day)
• Elections buffer time (T0)
• Elections meeting (T0 + 1 or 2 hour)

For instance,

• Preparation: starting December 10th
• Nomination period: Jan. 1st at 5:00 PM - Jan 8th 5:00 PM
• Grace period: Jan 8th 5:00 PM - Jan 9th 5:00 PM
• Absentee voting: Jan 9th 5:00 PM - Jan 10th 5:00 PM
• Buffer time: Jan 10th 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
• Elections: Jan 10th 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Preparation

1. Decide on a date and a time for the elections meeting, preferably an evening on a weekday during the first week of lectures in the beginning of the term. Then, work backwards and outline a general calendar schedule for the event, keeping in mind the required lengths of time for nominations and the grace period. See example above.

2. Submit a WUSA club event form to book a room for the elections. Allow at least two weeks for WUSA to reply. Some specifics when filling out the form:

• Use exec@csclub.uwaterloo.ca when asked for the "Society/Club Official Email." You may leave the alternative email blank.
• When asked for rooms, if you do not have a specific room in mind, you may put "a classroom in MC or DC" or similar, then check the box that indicates the need for room-booking assistance.
• One hour and thirty minutes should be enough for the event, though it is recommended to book for two hours just in case.
• The name of the event would be CSC *TERM* Elections. For instance, the elections of the winter 2024 term would be CSC Winter 2024 Elections.
• For "Target Audience", select "restricted to society members."
• Select "yes" to "spending society funds" if you plan on purchasing snacks for the event.

3. Simultaneous with the above, submit a design request and ask for a similar design to the previous term's elections promotions post. After the design is done, submit a marketing request for the design to be marketed on the major social media platforms (i.e., IG, Discord, Facebook, LinkedIn) on the first day of nominations. See below for IG captions reference.

4. Create a private Google Drive folder and prepare the following items

• Elections one-pager, outlining the events proceedings to be referenced in preparation and execution. For reference, the one-pager for winter 2024 is shown below

 W24 Elections One-Pager
 
 Title: Winter 2024 Elections & General Meeting
 Date: Thursday, January 11, 2023; 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm ET
 Event Schedule:
 - 5:30 - 5:50 pm - Set up (banner, slideshow, projector, any other equipment)
 - 5:50 - 6:00 pm - Let people wander in, process memberships
 Hand out donuts/Timbits to people at the door
 - 6:05 - 6:15 pm - Quick presentation about CSC, what we do, etc.
 - 6:15 - 6:30 pm - Constitutional Amendments
 - 6:30 - 7:00 pm - Elections for Prez, VP, Trez, AVP; Ratification of Sysadmin
 - 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - Buffer time & Wrap-up
 
 Location: MC 2034
 - We have the room booked from 6 - 8 pm
 
 Sign-up Form: N/A
 
 Description: Elections for CSC's Winter 2024 Executive Council, and voting on constitution amendments. The President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Assistant Vice-President will be elected, and the Systems Administrator will be appointed.
 
 Materials:
 - donuts/Timbits
 - Laptops (for presenting + membership sign-ups)
 - Machine Usage Agreement binder + membership money cup + pens

• Announcement email, similar to the following

Subject: CSC *TERM* Election Nominations

Hello everyone,

The Computer Science Club will be holding elections for the *TERM* term in person on *WEEKDAY*, *DATE* at *TIME WITH TIMEZONE* in *ROOM LOCATION*. The President, Vice-President, Assistant Vice-President, and Treasurer will be elected, and the Sysadmin will be appointed.

If you'd like to run for any of these positions or nominate someone, you can send an email to cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca, present your nomination in-person to the CRO, *CRO NAME*, or write your nomination on the whiteboard in the CSC office (MC 3036/3037). Nominations will close on *WEEKDAY*, *DATE* at *TIME WITH TIMESTAMP*. Nominees will be reached out to for their platforms.

If you are unable to vote in person on election day, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca before *WEEKDAY*, *DATE* at *TIME WITH TIMEZONE* to request an absentee ballot. You will then receive an email containing further information on the nominee platforms and how to vote. Requests after this time will likely not be granted. 

If you have any further questions about elections or nominations, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

--
*CRO NAME* (*PRONOUNS*)
*TERM* Chief Returning Officer (CRO)
Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo

• Nominee platform prompt email, similar to the following.

Hello,

You have been nominated for *NOMINATED POSITION* in the UW Computer Science Club for the *TERM* term. Please submit a nominee platform for the position(s) above by replying to this email with a paragraph of a maximum of 200 words per position. Your platform will be published on Discord and submitted into a document to be viewed by members.

If you have been nominated for more than one position, feel free to write more than one paragraph outlining your platform for each position. The deadline for submitting a nominee platform is *ABSENTEE VOTING START TIME*. If you do not respond by this deadline, then you will be entered into the election without a platform and will still be able to be voted for.

Elections will take place in-person on *DATE* from *START TIME* - *END TIME* in *ROOM LOCATION*. It is strongly recommended that you appear in-person where you will be asked to deliver a 2-3 minute speech about why people should vote for you for the position(s) you have been nominated for. If for any reason you are unable to show up in-person to the elections, please let me know by replying to this email beforehand.

If you have any further questions, please also email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

--
*CRO NAME* (*PRONOUNS*)
*TERM* Chief Returning Officer (CRO)
Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo

• Absentee ballot email, similar to the following

Subject: CSC *TERM* Election Absentee Ballot
 
Hello,
 
This is your absentee ballot for the *TERM* CSC Election. Please do not share this link with anyone: *LINK TO ABSENTEE BALLOT*.
 
The form will open on *TIME* and will close on *TIME*. Please fill in the form within this window for your vote to be counted. Do not vote in person if you will vote through this form.
 
Nominee platforms can be found here: *LINK TO PLATFORM*
 
Please ensure your membership is valid for this term before you vote.  
 
If you have any further questions, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca.
 
--
 
*CRO NAME* (*PRONOUNS*)
*TERM* Chief Returning Officer (CRO)
Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo

• Elections IG post captions, similar to the following

🗳 The CS Club will be holding elections for the *TERM* term on *WEEKDAY*, *DATE* at *TIME* in *ROOM LOCATION*.

👉 Come to learn more about CSC, sign up for membership, and vote on our new execs! The President, Vice-President, Assistant Vice-President, and Treasurer will be elected, and the Systems Administrator will be appointed. *INCLUDE THE NEXT SENTENCE FOR CONSITUTION AMENDMENTS* Furthermore, we will vote on some changes to our constitution outlined here: https://csclub.ca/constitution-changes. 

✋ If you'd like to run for any of these positions or nominate someone, you can send an email to cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca; present your nomination in-person to the CRO, *CRO NAME*; or write your name on the whiteboard in the CSC office (MC 3036/3037). Nominations will close on *DATE* at *TIME*. Nominees will be reached out to for their platforms.

❗If you are unable to attend the elections in-person, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca by *WEEKDAY*, *DATE* at *TIME* in order to request an absentee ballot and vote remotely.

❓ If you have any questions about elections, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

• Curated document of nominee platforms, in the following format for each position and nominee,

*Title* (ex. President)

*Nominee 1 Name* (*Nominee 1 WatIAM ID*) (ex. John Doe (j88doe))

*Submitted platform*

*Nominee 2 Name* (*Nominee 2 WatIAM ID*) (ex. Jane Doe (j99doe))

*Submitted platform*

• Slideshow to present at the meeting, with a brief introduction to the club outlining the clubs visions, past events and initiatives, the office space, and what membership means for members.
• Absentee ballot form, asking the following mandatory questions:
  1. Waterloo email
  2. WatIAM ID (e.g., t27ding)
  3. Ranking for each of the nominees for each of the positions (1, 2, 3, ..., decline to rank)
  4. Ratification of Sysadmin
  5. (if applicable) Ratification of constitution amendments

Nomination Period

1. Announce that nominations are open by sending the prepared elections announcement email to csc-general@csclub.uwaterloo.ca. Note that the email will have to be accepted by syscom or other execs before being sent out and will only contain plain text (aka, fancy formatting such as links and bolds will not show up (as of Winter 2024)).

Ensure the marketing team has made the requested posts on the requested platforms.

Note that Nominations should remain open for at least a week, as specified in the constitution.

2. Keep track of all nominations received during the nomination period, consolidating nominations from different sources if applicable. Ensure that nominees are actually eligible to run (ie. undergraduate students who are CSC members).

Send the prepared nominee platforms email to each of the nominees (you may send one email prompting for multiple positions), requesting a platform.

Once the platforms come in, add them to the nominee platforms document, which should be publically available (via public Google Doc or similar) and easily accessible (ex. QR-code in the office, link in Discord, etc.).

3. Decide on whether or not to offer food/snacks at the elections (Timbits are a good choice if you are unsure of what to purchase). We should have ~$30 allocated to the elections meeting.

Absentee voting period

1. Note down the name and email of individuals who've requested for absentee ballot.

2. Be sure the form opens at the specified time and closes at the specified time.

3. Whether or not the absentee ballot are to be provided to those who make a request during this period is up to the CRO's discretion.

4. After this time ends, count the votes. You may wish to leave a good chunk of time to count rank-based voting as it may be complicated to discern the number of votes for each person, especially if candidates are running for multiple positions.

The Big Day

1. Count the number of eligible voters who come (eg. by asking people at the door) and ensure that quorum is met. Eligible voters are undergraduate students who have paid their CSC membership fee for the term. It is a good idea to have a setup by the door for people to become members/renew their membership.

2. Keep track of meeting minutes (or designate someone else to help track meeting minutes), noting down when the elections begin + end, and when each position is elected. Refer to the Spring 2022 Election Meeting Minutes for an example.

3. [Optional] Give a brief (2-5 minutes) introduction to CSC, or designate some other qualified person to do this, in case someone has wandered in with no idea what this club is about.

4. Preside over the elections for each position, as specified in the constitution. For each position:

• Clearly announce all candidates, verbally and/or visually (eg. by writing on the board or by screen-sharing an electronic document). Also remember to announce the option to abstain.
• [Optional] If there are several candidates, it might be helpful to have each candidate quickly (2-3 minutes seconds) introduce themself and their reasons for running.
• Instruct all present individuals to lower their heads, and then go through the list of candidates, counting and recording the number of votes (raised hands) for each. Note that the CRO may not vote except to break a tie, however candidates and already-elected execs are allowed to vote. Alternatively, use the webcom's voting app (still in progress as of Winter 2024) and proceed similarly. Do not count the votes of non-eligible individuals (i.e., non-members).
• Announce the winner, optionally revealing the numbers of votes for each candidate.

5. For taking nominations from the floor (ie. in the case that there were no nominations for that position during the nomination period), give people a few minutes to talk to the CRO to nominate themselves/others, then follow the same voting process as usual.

6. For ratifying the sysadmin, allow the elected officers to announce their choice, then follow the same voting process as usual.

7. After the elections have concluded, add the meeting minutes to the Wiki here: Meetings. Don't forget to serve snacks (if present)!

8. Announce the results more broadly by sending an email following this template to csc-general@csclub.uwaterloo.ca, and/or by adding an announcement to the CSC website. Note that the email would have to be accepted by syscom before being sent out.

SUBJECT: [TERM] Election Results

[TERM] elections have concluded. Here are your executives for the term:

President: [NAME] ([USERID])
Vice-President: [NAME] ([USERID])
Assistant Vice-President: [NAME] ([USERID])
Treasurer: [NAME] ([USERID])
Sysadmin: [NAME] ([USERID])

--
[NAME] ([PRONOUNS])
[ROLE, eg. [TERM] Chief Returning Officer]
Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo

9. Be sure to take down all elections related setups (info on office whiteboard, nominee-platforms discord channel, etc.) and upload the private Google Drive Folder to the appropriate CSC Drive folder (removal of the voting Google Form is optional, but recommended, in order to keep confidentiality).

Online Elections

Elections should only be held online if the University has suspended in-person activity for the beginning of a term, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nominations

Announce that nominations are open by sending an email following this template (approximately) to csc-general@csclub.uwaterloo.ca. Note that the email will have to be accepted by syscom before being sent out.

SUBJECT: [TERM, eg. Winter 2022] Election Nominations

Hello everyone,

Due to the closure of campus this term, the Computer Science Club will be holding elections for [TERM] virtually. The president, vice-president, treasurer, and assistant vice-president (formerly secretary) will be elected, and the sysadmin will be appointed.

If you'd like to run for any of these positions or nominate someone, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca. Nominations will close on [DATE] at {TIME].

If you have any further questions about elections or nominations, please email cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca.

--
[NAME] ([PRONOUNS])
[TERM] Chief Returning Officer (CRO)
Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo

Nominations should remain open for at least a week, as specified in the constitution.

Elections

1. Go to https://civs1.civs.us/ and press "Create a poll."

2. Name the poll following this template: CSC [TERM, eg. Winter 2022] Elections

3. The name of the supervisor should be the name of the CRO. The email address of the supervisor should be an email that the CRO has access to, ie. either cro@csclub.uwaterloo.ca, or the CRO's personal csclub.uwaterloo.ca email.

4. Insert the date and time you plan to stop the poll. Note that this isn’t automatic - you'll have to manually stop it later on.

5. For the description section, follow this template:

This is the CSC Executive Election for the [TERM, eg. Winter 2022] term. We have [NUMBER] people running for four different positions. Rank the choices in order of preferences, and the top four non-conflicting options will be chosen. For example, if the aggregate results in order of votes are: Juthika for President, Nobody for President, Eric for VP, Nobody for VP, then both Juthika and Eric will be confirmed to their respective roles. Conversely, if the results in order of votes are: Juthika for President, Nobody for VP, Eric for VP, Nobody for President, then only Juthika will be confirmed and the VP position will remain unfilled.

6. For the names of choices, enter all the candidates in the order of President, VP, Treasurer, and AVP, following this template:

[NAME] for President
[NAME] for Vice President
[NAME] for Treasurer
[NAME] for Assistant Vice President
Nobody for President
Nobody Vice President
Nobody for Treasurer
Nobody for Assistance Vice President

7. For the number of choices will win, enter 4.

8. For the question "Do you want the poll to be private or public?", click on Public.

9. Under more options, check off "Present choices on voting page in exactly the given order."

10. Make sure that all of the dates and names are correct!

11. Click "Create poll."

12. The CRO should receive an email with a link to start and stop the poll, and a public link for voting.

13. Click the link that will allow you to start/stop the poll, and start the poll.

14. Using the script in CSC's repo, find out who are eligible CSC members for the term. Unfortunately, this may include some Alumni emails.

15. Copy and paste the list of eligible emails into the BCC part of an email, and put exec@csclub.uwaterloo.ca as the To part of the email.

16. Write the body of the email using the following template:

SUBJECT: Computer Science Club [TERM, eg. Winter 2022] Elections

Note: This email is intended for undergraduate members of the Computer Science Club. Please ignore it if you are not an undergraduate member.
 
Hello everyone,
 
CSC is currently having its elections for the [TERM, eg. Winter 2022] term, and would like to invite you to vote. You can vote at this link: [LINK]  
 
Voting will close on [DATE] at [TIME].

--
[NAME] ([PRONOUNS])
[TERM] Chief Returning Officer (CRO)
Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo

17. Send the email to commence voting!

18. Close the poll at the specified time, and announce the results following the same process as outlined the #In-person Elections guide.