School Elections Officer Guide

Electing a student council helps promote a favourable climate for student life. By choosing their own representatives, students also gain a better understanding of the electoral process.

This guide is intended for the school elections officer, the person responsible for conducting student elections, and any teachers who might be helping him or her. It is adaptable to the needs of students from Grades 5 to 12 and explains, clearly and simply, the steps involved in electing a student council.

Key Points and Responsibilities

Here are a few key points to remember before starting:

• A school assembly is a great place to announce an election and to invite students to contact the school elections officer for further information.
• The election should be organized democratically and in a non-partisan way.
• Remind the student electors that they should not base their choice on a candidate's popularity, but should instead choose the person best suited for the job in view of his or her abilities and skills.
• Candidates who are elected as members of a student council will have to work toward improving the students' quality of life at school.

• Post the electoral calendar, the election announcement, the list of positions available and the duties of each position
• Prepare the nomination forms and receive them when completed

During the nomination period, make sure that anyone interested in running for office has access to the guidelines for candidates and the election rules.

Once the candidates have been confirmed, prepare the ballots listing the names of the candidates in alphabetical order.

Note: This ballot paper is not actual size.

To make sure all students get the necessary information about the election, we recommend that you make a short presentation during an assembly to explain the election process. You should clarify the roles and responsibilities of the various positions and explain how to get a nomination form.

Electoral Calendar

This calendar of election activities and milestones can serve as a checklist that you can use in the days leading up to the election.

From Nomination to Election

From candidate eligibility and nomination to counting the votes and announcing the results, this section of the guide discusses each step of the election process and the supplies you'll need for things to run smoothly.

Candidate Eligibility

You should explain the requirements a student must meet to be eligible to run for election to the student council. For example, you could say that a candidate must:

• Be a full-time student
• Have a good school record
• Submit the nomination form
• Have the signed support of at least 10 other students
  

Nomination

	Nomination Form _______________________________________________ Candidate's Name _______________________________________________ Name of Party (if applicable) _______________________________________________ Level/Class

Election Expenses

You could also make rules for election expenses. For example, you could set a ceiling for campaign expenses and require each candidate to make a deposit. To get their deposits back, candidates must keep a record of all of their election expenses and funds raised, and file a report.

Voters List

The voters list is a complete list of the students eligible to vote. You could choose to limit the right to vote to full-time students enrolled at the school.

Campaigning

Campaigning is the only way candidates have to let people know they are running for office and to get their message out to student electors. In addition to putting up posters in high-traffic areas of the school, each candidate could deliver a speech. The speeches could be followed by a press conference to give listeners an opportunity to clarify the points raised. Students should also be informed of the rules for this press conference.

Election Day

Election day is the day when students have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice, the person who will best represent them. A timetable of polling hours should be made up and posted at least a week before election day to inform voters where and when they can cast their ballots.

Polling Stations

Polling stations are places set up to allow electors to vote. Each polling station must have at least two tables: one where a deputy returning officer and a poll clerk sit with the ballot box, and a second one for the voting screen.

A polling station should be set up for every 100 to 200 students. The voters list should be split among polling stations - for example, one for each grade level. Each student elector will vote at the polling station where his or her name is on the list.

Polling stations should be set up in high-traffic areas, to attract as many voters as possible on election day, while ensuring that they can still vote in secret without difficulty.

Ballots and Electoral Supplies

The school elections officer should have a sufficient number of ballots prepared in advance. Each ballot lists candidates for a given position in alphabetical order, with circles at the side where electors can mark their choice.

The school elections officer should also have the following supplies ready for each polling station:

• The list of electors who can vote at that polling station
• The required number of ballots
• Pencils to use in marking the ballots
• One voting screen*
• One ballot box*
• Tally sheets for vote counting
• An official statement of the vote
• At least two tables and two chairs

* You can get these supplies and others you may need from Elections Canada from the Order Your Resources page.

Elections staff

The school elections officer names one deputy returning officer and one poll clerk for each polling station.

The deputy returning officer generally:

• Controls the comings and goings at the polling station and prevents crowding
• Hands out the ballots to the electors
• Counts the ballots

• Crosses out the names of electors on the voters list after they vote
• Tallies the ballots counted by the deputy returning officer

The school elections officer will ask deputy returning officers and poll clerks to swear their oaths of office. The official text reads:

I solemnly affirm that:
I have reached voting age;
I live in the riding of ..........;
I will act faithfully without partiality, fear, favour or affection and in every respect according to the law;
At the polling station, I will maintain the secrecy of the vote.

Voting Procedure

The deputy returning officers and poll clerks set up their polling stations. The deputy returning officer shows everyone that the ballot box is empty. The deputy returning officer then closes and seals the box.

Tell the group members how to conduct their voting:

• Participants come forward one by one and state their names clearly. The poll clerk then crosses out their names on the voters list, one by one.
• The deputy returning officer then gives each voter a ballot folded in three.
• Each voter, in turn, then goes directly behind the voting screen, and marks the ballot with the pencil provided.
  

• If a student makes a mistake while marking his or her ballot, he or she can ask the deputy returning officer for another ballot. The first is then regarded as a "spoiled ballot" and is set aside with any other spoiled ballots.
• Once the voter has marked a ballot, he or she folds it again in the same way it was received and gives it to the deputy returning officer, who removes the counterfoil and gives the ballot back to the voter without unfolding it. The voter then places the ballot in the ballot box.

Counting the Votes

After everyone has voted, the votes are counted. The deputy returning officer opens the sealed ballot box and empties it onto the table.

• The deputy returning officer then unfolds the ballots and shows them to the poll clerk (and the candidates' representatives, if any) one by one.
• The poll clerk tallies the votes, one by one.
• The deputy returning officer places the counted ballots cast for each candidate in separate piles.
• After counting, he or she checks whether the number of votes recorded on the tally sheet by the poll clerk corresponds to the number of ballots in each candidate's pile.
• Ballots with incorrect marks are rejected.
• The deputy returning officer makes separate piles for rejected ballots and spoiled ballots, i.e. any ballots incorrectly marked by the elector and exchanged for another one.

The number of valid, spoiled, rejected and unused ballots must be equal to the number of ballots you had before the election, and this must be checked to prevent fraud.

The school elections officer compiles the results from all polling stations to obtain the overall election results.

Election Results

We suggest announcing/publishing the election results as soon as they are available and introducing the elected candidates shortly after the results have been released.

The elected candidates can use the opportunity to thank their supporters and invite students to make suggestions.

Sample Guidelines for Candidates

• Candidates must submit their nomination papers to the school elections officer, together with the signatures of the students who support them, and (if required) their curriculum vitae and deposit (for example $20, which will be reimbursed to candidates who meet all their obligations), no later than (date) at 4:30 p.m.
• The school elections officer receives nominations and reviews them in accordance with the established criteria. The nomination committee, made up of a member of the school principal's office, a teacher and the school elections officer, evaluates contentious cases.
• All candidates must attend the candidate information session and any other all-candidate meeting(s) that may be held.
• The names of the confirmed candidates will appear on the appropriate ballot papers.
• Campaigns will run from (date) to (date). All campaign material must be submitted for approval to the school elections officer before being produced and distributed.
• Each candidate must prepare a speech to be presented at a suitable time and place. Speeches may not exceed five minutes. As a rule, in his or her speech, the candidate should demonstrate a clear understanding of the responsibilities of the position sought, clearly indicate his or her objectives, and show that he or she is a good candidate.
• Candidates must submit their expenses reports by (time), (date). Assuming they met all their obligations, their deposits are returned to them.

Sample Election Rules

• Candidates must complete their nomination papers and return them to the school elections officer before the deadline.
• The school elections officer must approve all election material. Posters are to be put up only in approved areas. All campaigning must be conducted inside the school.
• Election material must be free of defamatory or discriminatory drawings, statements or connotations of any sort. All election publicity should also respect individual privacy.
• All publicity work (making posters, etc.) must be done outside school hours, unless it is part of a class project or special permission is received from the teacher.
• If a budget is allotted to candidates, they must not exceed it.
• All expenses must be supported with receipts.
• All posters and other election material must be removed by 4:30 p.m. of the day before election day.
• The school elections officer and the appropriate teacher must approve all class presentations by candidates in advance.
• On election day, candidates must not solicit support in or near any polling station.
• Distributing promotional items that may have a commercial value to student electors is not permissible as it may be seen as an attempt to buy their votes. Candidates are wise to have any promotional material intended for distribution approved by the school elections officer, rather than to risk being disqualified or having the material confiscated.
• The school elections officer can confiscate any election material that contravenes these rules.
• Any candidate breaking these rules may be disqualified.

Sample Marked Ballots

The sample marked ballots below should be accepted and counted.

The sample marked ballots below should be rejected.

Sample Ballot Paper

1. Type in the candidates' names and political affiliations (as in the model below). Family names must be in alphabetical order.
2. Reproduce the required number of ballots for your group.
3. Cut carefully around the edges of the actual ballots so that the paper fits into the template for voters with a visual impairment.
4. Fold the ballot.

Note: The sample below was developed for a history class.

Sample Blank Ballot Papers

Sample blank ballot papers for three and four candidates.

Voters List

Tally Sheet

Official Statement of the Vote

To be completed by the deputy returning officer after the ballots are counted.

	Official Statement of the Vote Polling station:_________ (Name or number) Date:____________ NAMES OF CANDIDATES (Same order as on ballot) NUMBER OF VOTES                                       Ballots received from returning officer _____ (A) (1) Valid votes cast ____ (2) Rejected votes ____ (found in box but not counted as valid) Total votes cast (number of electors who voted) (1) + (2) = ____ Spoiled ballots (not deposited in ballot box) (3) ____ Unused ballots (4) ____ Total (1) + (2) + (3) + (4) _____(B) (A must equal B).   ______________________ Signature of Deputy Returning Officer ______________________ Signature of Poll Clerk   Signatures of Candidates' Representatives (Optional) _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________