Any currently enrolled, full-time undergraduate student who has paid their activity fee is eligible to run in Student Government elections for open Senate seats or open Executive positions. In the Spring semester, any student or registered student organization may place a referendumˆ or question on the ballot. ˆPlease note: referenda require 500 student signatures to be featured on the ballot, it is recommended to reach out to the Elections Commission prior to collecting signatures. More information may be found in the election codes. During this time, candidates are encouraged to begin preparing for their campaigns. They may set up attendance at meetings. While this time may be helpful to receive approval for campaign materials, candidates may also seek approval for graphic campaign materials immediately following filing for candidacy. Candidates may begin encouraging voters. Candidates should coordinate in-person graphic campaigning with their assigned Elections Commissioner. Hearings regarding Election Code violations may occur on a case-by-case basis as determined by the Supreme Court. All currently enrolled, full-time undergraduate students who have paid their activity fee are eligible to vote in elections. If you are experiencing challenges with your ballot, please contact our advisor, Dr. Stevens at hstevens@miami.edu. Ballot change requests will only be granted until 5:00 PM on the last day of voting. Hearings regarding Election Code violations may occur on a case-by-case basis as determined by the Supreme Court. In the case that an executive candidate does not receive 50% of the vote plus one vote or a senate candidate does not achieve plurality by way of a tie, we will host a run-off election for those candidates only. Hearings regarding Election Code violations may occur on a case-by-case basis as determined by the Supreme Court. *Items denoted with an asterisk (*) are required to maintain candidacy status. Candidates who fail to meet mandatory requirements may be subject to automatic disqualification. Becoming a Candidate
Interim Period
Graphic Campaigning
Elections
Results
Run-Off Elections & Results
Senators serve one year terms with the possibility of continuing service if they meet candidacy requirements and win their respective election. Below is the schedule for open senate seats. The number beside each seat refers to the total amount of seats for that constituency that will be open. If a senate seat becomes vacant, the seat will be open for special appointment via application.
Students must be enrolled in that school/college to run and serve this constituency.
Students must be in that academic year by the length of time at University or completed credit amount to run and serve this constituency. Voters will only have access to class level determined by credits completed. If you believe you should have access to a different ballot when voting, please do not submit your ballot and contact our advisor, Dr. Heather Stevens at hstevens@miami.edu.
Filing for candidacy means that you are indicating that you want to be involved in Student Government and you would like to represent your fellow students. For students interested in executive positions: Candidates are able to spend money on their campaign items, but they may spend no more than $300 for senate candidates or $1,000 collectively for executive candidates. Spending money is not a mandatory part of campaigning, but whether you spend money or not, you must submit a financial form to the Elections Commission by 10:00am on Thursday, February 20.
For students interested in senate:
Students who run for positions often campaign to educate voters about why they are the best candidate for a specific position. Campaign materials may include palm cards, t-shirts, flyers, emails, etc.
Candidates will share their preferred name, bio to be featured on the ballot, headshot for the ballot, and seat running. Additional information including contact information, academic school/college, GPA, and other enrollment verification information. Please note: candidates who are running on a ticket will have an additional page to complete related to their running mates and ticket name.
A ticket is a group of people who are all running for their seats together - meaning that they would be working towards and accomplishing the same goals if elected. To be a ticket you much fall in to no more than one of these categories:
Yes, candidates must follow the election codes. The Elections Commission works hard to ensure a fair election. They enforce and maintain Election Codes that ALL candidates and other students campaigning for candidates must follow. You can access the elections codes here.
The Elections Commission runs elections. All questions related to elections should be directed to the Chair - sgelections@miami.edu.