AESA

Every year, the Executive Committee positions are re-elected, giving AESA members the chance to vote for new leaders and nominate themselves for executive positions. The election occurs at the AESA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and is run by two AESA election officers. The election rules are spilt into the following headings:

Candidates         Ballots        Members        Election Officers      

Voting Procedure        Dual Positions       Appeals 

1.1 A candidate must be a member

1.2 Candidates may run for up to two (2) different positions on the Executive.

1.3 Any member may nominate a candidate, including themselves, for any executive position. This must be in writing to the election officer(s).

1.4 Once nominated, a candidate must confirm in writing to the election officer(s) whether they will run for that position.

1.5 Candidates must have confirmed that they are running for a position, before or on the cut-off date set by the election officer(s). No change of candidates may occur after this time.

1.6 Written Paragraph

1.6.1 Each candidate has the opportunity to provided a written paragraph about themselves of up to 150 words.

1.6.2 This may be provided to the election officer at any time up to the day of the election.

1.6.3 The paragraph may only be changed at the permission of the election officer(s).

1.6.4 The election officer(s) must approve the paragraph before publication.

1.6.5 The candidate's paragraphs must be easily accessible to all members, and be available on request to any interested party.

2.1 Each position that is up for election will have a separate ballot.

2.2 Candidates names will appear in a random order on the ballot.

2.2.1 The random order is decided either by computer or by pulling the candidates names out of a hat (or other non-transparent box) by the election officer(s).

3.1 Only current registered members, as at the cut-off date, are eligible to vote in the election.

4.1 Two (2) election officers must be selected.

4.2 The election officers are ineligible to vote or be candidates in the election.

4.3 Each decision on any matter relating to the election must be agreed by both officers.

4.4 Election officers can only be replaced with the agreement of the current executive.

5.1 Each member has the option to fill in only one (1) ballot for each position up for election.

5.2 Filling in the ballot

5.2.1 To vote, a number must be filled in the boxes on the ballot.

5.2.2 A minimum of three (3) boxes must be filled in.

5.2.2.1 If there are less than three (3) candidates, all boxes must be marked.

5.2.3 The first preference must be marked with a 1, second preference with a 2, etc.

5.3 Each member has the option to fill in the ballot anonymously.

5.4 If a member is unable to fill in the ballot on the date selected for the election, they may fill in a ballot and provide it to the election officer(s) a minimum of 48 hours before the election.

5.5 Once the election has completed, no more ballots will be accepted.

5.6 Once the election is closed, the election officers will by hand or computer, separate the ballots by position and remove any invalid ballots.

5.7 The total valid amount of ballots for each position will then be counted.

5.8 Ballots will then be separated by first preference and counted.

5.9 If one candidate has a majority, then they win this position.

5.10 If no majority has been found, the ballots from the candidate with the lowest amount of votes, are read for the next preference of votes and counted again.

5.11 If more than one (1) candidate has the lowest amount of votes, all of these tied candidates will be eliminated, and their votes redistributed as in 5.10.

5.12 The procedure in 5.10 is repeated until there is a candidate with a majority.

5.13 If there is no clear winner due to a large amount of ties, then that position will go up for a re-vote as decided by the election officer(s).

5.14 If there are only two (2) candidates remaining, and both are tied on votes, the result will be decided by the toss of the coin.

5.14.1 The candidate that calls the toss is based on first round and then subsequent round votes.

5.14.2 If the choice of which candidate calls the toss is still undecided, the election officers will decide in a random fashion as per 2.2.1

5.15 If there is only one candidate for a position, then they win that position without a vote needing to take place.

6.1 For each candidate who has won two (2) positions, they must decide which position to fill, and advise the election officer(s).

6.2 Each vacant position is then recounted following procedures 5.8 to 5.14 after eliminating the candidates who have already won a position.

6.3 If, after elimination, there are no candidates remaining for that position, then another election will be held for that position as decided by the election officer(s).

7.1 Any candidate with a vote above 25% in their position election may request only one (1) recount of their position election.

7.2 Any candidate may appeal any part of their position election only once.

7.3 All appeals are to be decided by the election officials to the spirit and letter of the constitution.