Meeting of the General Assembly

Wednesday 25 February 2015, 8:30pm

Daggett Lounge, Thorne Hall

Table of Contents
Agenda
Proposal to Vote
Proposal 141516
Amendment to the Election Bylaws: Instant Runoff Voting

Appendix A
Instant Runoff Voting

Agenda
Meeting of the General Assembly
25 February 2015
Daggett Lounge, Thorne Hall

I.
II.

Call to Order
Roll Call

III.

Approval of Minutes

IV.

Public Comment Time

V.

Introduction of Guests

Meadow Davis, Associate Director of Residential Life

Whitney Hogan, Associate Director of Health Promotion
Mariana Centeno, Assistant Director of Residential Life

VI.
VII.

Old Business
Reports of Committees
a. Student Affairs Justin J. Pearson 17
b. Academic Affairs Chrissy Rujiraorchai 17
c. Student Organizations Oversight Committee Harriet Fisher 17
d. Student Activities Funding Committee Ryan Davis 15
e. Facilities & Sustainability Kyle Wolstencroft 15
f.

VIII.

Executive Committee Chris Breen 15 / Charlotte McLaughry 15

Report of Members
a. Class Councils
b. Inter-House Council Emily Serwer 16
c. Entertainment Board Arindam Jurakhan 17
d. Athletic Council Shannon Brady 16
e. The McKeen Center Courtney Chuang 15
f.

Programming Director Emily Serwer 16

g. At-Large
IX.

Report of the President Chris Breen 15

X.

Announcements

XI.

Adjournment

Proposal to Vote
Proposal 141516
Proposed by: Committee on Student Government Affairs
Date: 9 February 2015
AMENDMENT TO THE ELECTION BYLAWS: INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING
Bowdoin Student Government, convened in General Assembly

WHEREAS, Elections at Bowdoin that have greater than two candidates running are often won by obtaining a
plurality rather than a majority of votes;

WHEREAS, A majority vote is the strongest indication of candidate approval by constituents;

WHEREAS, Traditional run-off elections with multiple rounds of voting are unfeasible due to a drop off of
participation in subsequent voting rounds;

WHEREAS, Elections at Bowdoin that have greater than two candidates running are often won by obtaining a
plurality rather than a majority of votes;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

ESOLVED, That the members of Bowdoin Student Government, convened in General Assembly

Authorize Instant Runoff Voting (detailed in Appendix A) starting in the spring elections of 2015.
.

BY ORDER OF BOWDOIN STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Appendix A
Instant Runoff Voting
Instant Runoff Voting guarantees that the winning candidate wins by securing a majority of votes, rather than a
mere plurality.

In contrast to conventional elections, the IRV system has the voter rank their candidates by preference (first,
second, third choice, etc.). Since these ballots list voter preferences, it allows additional rounds of voting to take
place if no candidates receive a majority of votes. This is accomplished without needing to do an actual runoff
election that requires voters to vote more than once.

Instant Runoff Voting shall be run according to these rules:

1. The IRV system is to be used in all single-winner elections with three or more candidates.
2. Voters must rank at least three candidates but are allowed and encouraged to rank as many additional
choices as they wish, provided there are greater than three candidates running.
3. If any candidate receives a majority of first choice votes, that candidate is elected.
4. If this does not occur, the candidate who receives the overall ranking of last place is eliminated, just as in a
conventional runoff election.
5. The ballots are counted again. For any ballots that indicate a candidate that has been eliminated as first
choice, the next choice candidate receives the vote.
6. The process of eliminating the last place candidate and recounting ballots continues until a candidate
secures 50% +1 of the votes.

While no voting system is perfect, the IRV system is widely seen as the most accurate and effective way to measure
overall support for a candidate. To maximize the effectiveness of the IRV system, voters are encouraged to rank
all candidates during BSG and Class Council elections in which more than two candidates are running.