2011 ELECTION RULES & GUIDELINES

Role of the Electoral Officer:

The Electoral Officer shall:
• Act in an ethical, non-partisan manner in enforcing all by-laws, policies and procedures pertaining
to elections for the organization;
• Publicize all election critical dates, including nominations, election forum and election day, to the
Rotman Commerce community using all available media, resources and tools;
• Organize and conduct an all-nominees meeting and election forum for the organization;
• Provide regular reports as required to the executive committee of the organization;
• Ensure that a minimum of seven (7) working days be given for filling nominations for positions and
that nominations be no longer accepted within fifteen (15) business days of actual voting in the
election. Business days do not include reading week and must be on an actual U of T school day.
• Ensure that a minimum of fourteen (14) working days notice be given of when and where the
election will be occurring;
• Ensure that each candidate is eligible for election pursuant to the provisions under “Eligibility of
Candidate and Electorate” and the RCCA constitution within two (2) business days following the
deadline for nominations;
• Make rulings in writing on all matters pertaining to the elections, notwithstanding any rulings made
by the Election Appeals Committee;
• Be responsible for maintaining a valid email account and phone number with voicemail for the
purposes of being contacted on issues related to the election.

RCCA Elected Positions

• For the 2011 RCCA Elections, there are 8 executive positions to be filled:
o President
o Vice President Internal Relations
o Vice President External Relations
o Chair of the Rotman Commerce Consulting Conference (RC3)
o Director of Events
o Director of Marketing
o Director of Professional Development
o Director of Performance Management
• There will be a Meet & Greet with the current executives for the interested candidates to find out
more about the available positions and their respective responsibilities before applications are due.
o Scheduled Date: Thursday, January 13th at 7PM (RCSA office in WW basement)

Eligibility of Candidate & Electorate

• Only Rotman Commerce students enrolled in a recognized Rotman Commerce program, including
ASMAJ1111 = Major, ASSPE2273 = Commerce & Finance (old B.Com), ASSPE2273X = Commerce &
Finance (old B.Com), ASSPE1704 = Accounting (B.Com), ASSPE2038 = Finance and Economics
(B.Com), ASSPE2431 = Management (B.Com) or first-year of studies program in Commerce, are
eligible to vote or run in elections.
• The President elect, both External and Internal Vice Presidents elect, Director of Events, Chair of
RC3, Director of Professional Development and Director of Marketing elect are expected to be in
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 Toronto for at least 50% of the summer, due to the need to plan for events in the beginning of the
academic year.
• Proxy votes are not allowed for this election; voter must cast the ballot by logging into their
account on Rotman Commerce Portal.

Campaign Rules
• Campaigning is only permitted during the specified campaign period – Monday, January 31st,
12:00am (midnight) to Wednesday, February 2nd, 4:00pm 2011 – following this period, no
campaigning by candidates or their supporters is permitted. This includes the distribution of
campaign flyers, mass electronic mail, or soliciting votes orally or virtually (for example, through
the use of social media networks like Facebook pages or through text messages).
• Any personal attacks made on other candidates will result in immediate disqualification.
• Candidates are permitted to encourage students to vote in the elections but are not allowed to
promote their own position after the campaigning deadline.
• No joint campaigns are permitted with other candidates.
• Candidates are responsible for the actions of their supporters; should their supporters break any
campaign rules stipulated for the candidates, this will serve as grounds for disqualification of the
candidate.
• Should candidates have any concerns regarding the integrity of the elections, they may address
them to the Chief Electoral Officer, Daniella Gan, daniella.gan@utoronto.ca on elections day and
within 24 hours after the election results are disclosed. If the CEO is unable to resolve the issue,
concerns must be addressed within 48 hours of contacting the CEO to Allan Grant at
allan.grant@utoronto.ca
• Campaigning is any attempt by an individual or an arms-length party to encourage a voter to cast a
vote in favour or in opposition of a nominee. Interpretation of what is and is not campaigning is at
the discretion of the electoral officer;
• All nominees shall campaign in accordance with the rules of fair play. Breaking the rules of fair play
include, but are not limited to, libel, slander, general sabotage of a competing nominee’s campaign
or intentional misrepresentation of fact. All interpretations of fair play are at the discretion of the
Electoral Officer;
• All campaigning must be conducted within the designated campaign period and time;
• Nominees shall observe the rules of any appropriate bodies regarding the posting of signs and the
distribution of literature on campus. If nominees are aware of their supporters ignoring said rules,
are in a position to stop said actions, and do not, it will be deemed that those supporters were
acting with the implicit consent of the nominee;
• Supporters of nominees campaigning or participating in strategy development on behalf of a
nominee must be members of an organization.
• No posters or campaign material shall be permitted to affix to or upon any surfaces within any area
of RCCA jurisdiction. Campaign materials may only be posted in public areas as specified under
“Posters and Distribution of Flyers”. Interpretation of what constitutes a campaign material
must be in accordance with the aforementioned section.
• Nominees are forbidden from running in slates, on tickets, or participating in joint campaigns. Any
attempt, implicitly or explicitly, to create the appearance of a slate, ticket or joint campaign shall be
deemed to be in effect, a slate, ticket, or joint campaign resulting in the nominee’s automatic
disqualification. Interpretation of what is to be considered a slate, ticket or joint campaign shall be
left to the discretion of the Electoral Officer.
• Nominees shall not be permitted to campaign or declare themselves to be a nominee in any
election on voting days, but can inform members that elections are being held and where and how
to vote.
• Nominees shall not be permitted to receive endorsement from any recognized Rotman Commerce
student group or current/elected executive of a recognized Rotman Commerce student group using
their title and influence to sway voting.

Posters and Distribution of Flyers

• A poster is defined as any print material affixed to or hanging from a wall, door, window, ceiling,
cubicle, or otherwise attached/posted to a permanent surface. Posters must not be deliberately
placed on the floor, on stairs or in other areas deemed to cause possible safety concerns.

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• A flyer is defined as any print material distributed from one student to another outside of the
classroom.
• The maximum size for posters is 8.5” by 11”. The maximum number of posters permitted is 2.
• Flyers are permitted, with the maximum flyer size being ¼ of an 8.5” by 11” sheet. Flyers are to be
distributed outside of classrooms. Any candidates caught distributing flyers inside classrooms will
receive a warning.
• Posters with offensive or discriminatory material of any sort will not be posted at the discretion of
the CEO.
• Posted material may not cover up the posters of other candidates. Candidates must also not
destroy, tear down, or deface the posters of other candidates.
• Any logo, name, picture, symbol or image of any kind that represents an organization or entity
must not be displayed on campaign material in a manner that may be construed as endorsement of
a nominee.
• Only ONE poster is permitted on any designated surface (i.e. ONE poster per bulletin board).
• Candidates are to email their poster to the Chief Electoral Officer by Wednesday, January 26th 2011
at 9:00a.m. to daniella.gan@utoronto.ca. The posters will then be approved.
• Only the 2 official approved posters will be permitted to hang in WO and WW.
• Submitted posters must be posted at two locations:
• The carrel or a designated board at the Woodsworth Residence basement (WO).
• The designated board in front of the RCSA office at Woodsworth College (WW).
• Candidates may not post anywhere else inside either of the Woodsworth buildings (WO & WW)
without prior permission from official building representatives of WO & WW.
• Candidates are to ensure their handouts are not littering any of the University of Toronto buildings.
Please bear in mind the cleanliness and environment of the place and be respectful of the buildings
and the trees in the neighbourhood.
• After the campaign period is over, candidates are to ensure that their posters are promptly
removed. All posters must be removed by midnight on the last day of campaigning, Wednesday,
February 2nd, 2011.
• Distribution of campaign paraphernalia is not permitted at any time. This includes the
distribution of any swag or giveaways to students.
• Nominees may develop websites or use videos/social media to promote the candidacy, but these
forms of media are considered campaign material and are thus subject to all applicable rules
governing the election.
• Direct electronic messaging, including messages sent via email and social media sites, sent by the
nominee in support of their candidacy in an election must be kept on-file and submitted upon
request to the Electoral Officer for reference purposes. Such messages which are intended as
responses to questions asked of a nominee in personal electronic messages and messages between
a nominee’s campaign team, are exempted unless those messages are deemed violate the terms
of this procedure.
• Nominees may not use Rotman, Rotman Commerce or recognized Rotman Commerce student
group marks or logos relative to campaign materials.
• Nominees shall not be permitted to give class speeches to promote their candidacy for an election
without the express written consent of the faculty member responsible for coordinating the class in
question.
• Campaign materials may only be produced in the English or French language. Any campaign
material using French must include a visible English translation of equal or greater size on the same
piece of campaign material.
• It is solely the responsibility of the candidate to perform the translation on their campaign material.
• Any campaign material requiring translation must be submitted to the Electoral Officer within the
first three (3) days of campaigning for approval.
• Verifications of translations must be completed a maximum of five (5) working days after
submission of materials requiring translation.
• The use of live animals for campaigning is forbidden.

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Candidate Forum and Meet and Greet
• All candidates are to participate in the RCCA Forum and Meet & Greet held on Friday, January 28th,
at a time TBA, in Kruger Hall (Woodsworth College)
• These candidates will be required to give a speech regarding their platform, not to exceed two
minutes.
• These candidates will then be asked questions from students and/or past executives.
• All candidates must attend the forum.
Voting
• Nominees shall be ranked from highest to lowest according to the number of votes they receive.
The candidate(s) who receive the highest number of votes for each position shall be declared the
winner(s) provided they are not disqualified prior to ratification. Voters can abstain from voting for
candidates who run unopposed.
• Voting must happen on two (2) consecutive days and these days must be U of T class days.
• Should classes be cancelled due to any extenuating circumstances such as snow days, that voting
day would be moved to the next regularly scheduled class day in which there is no currently
scheduled voting day.
• Voting shall be carried out on-line except where actual balloting is required by virtue of affiliation
with an external third-party. Where affiliation with an external third-party requires, voting may be
conducted by secret ballot. Each member must place the ballot into a ballot box.
• Where actual balloting is required, the Electoral Officer shall, at their discretion, develop
supplemental procedures for counting, scrutineering, and recounting ballots.
• In the event of a tie between two (2) or more winning candidates where the relevant vacant
positions are insufficient to accommodate all tied candidates, a second round of elections (run-off)
will be organized by the Electoral Officer.
• The run-off elections will not have a nomination period;
• The run-off elections will include only the tied winning nominees as candidates;
• The run-off elections may consist of a shorter campaign period of at least two (2) business days;
• Additional details of run-off elections shall be left to the discretion of the Electoral Officer.
• If, after a run-off election, the two (2) leading candidates are still tied, the elections to the position
in question shall be decided by the incoming executive body of the <insert organization name> by
secret ballot at a valid executive meeting.
• When a tied election is considered by the executive committee as described in Article 5, section
5.6, each candidate shall be afforded the right to give a speech not exceed ten (10) minutes and
executives shall be permitted to ask questions.

Reprimand of Nominees
• Nominees may be formally reprimanded in the form of strikes for conduct relative to elections for
the following infractions:
- Negative campaigning
- Illegal use of resources
- Violation of fair play
• Removal or defacing of campaign materials
• Illegal campaigning
• Illegal campaign materials
• Violation of University rules, regulations and policies
• Failure to attend all-nominees meeting
• Violation of any ruling of the Electoral Officer
• Repeat occurrence of an infraction
• Receiving monetary or logistical support from a recognized Rotman Commerce student group
• Notwithstanding Article 6, section 6.1, the Electoral Officer shall retain the authority to assign or not
to assign strikes as they deem appropriate in consultation with the Rotman Commerce Student Life
office.
• Strikes may be issued at any time during the campaign period for the election and up to two (2)
days after voting ends.
• When issuing strikes, the Electoral Officer must provide the nominee in writing an explanation as to
why the strike was rendered.

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 • Upon the receipt of three (3) or more strikes, a nominee shall be deemed disqualified from the
election.

Election Appeals Committee

• The executive committee of the RCCA shall, prior to the commencement of campaigning, appoint
the membership of an election appeals committee responsible for reviewing appeals to reprimands
rendered against nominees
• This committee must have the following composition:
- The RCCA President or designate;
- One (1) voting executive committee member of the RCCA;
- One (1) non-executive member of the RCCA;
- The Assistant Director, Student Groups or designate, of Rotman Commerce, University of
Toronto
• The following are the rules on appealing issues relating to the RCCA election:
- A nominee must first file a written appeal with the Electoral Officer.
• A nominee may appeal to the Election Appeals Committee, but only if an appeal has first been ruled
on by the Electoral Officer. Appeals to the Election Appeals Committee will only be considered
within three (3) working days of voting ending and must be ruled upon no later than ten (10)
working days of voting ending.
• Appeals may only be issued by nominees and must be submitted in writing.
• Appeals will only be considered as it pertains to the administration, conduct and execution of an
election relative to the actions of a nominee, the Electoral Officer, currently-elected executive of
the RCCA or member.
• The Electoral Officer shall be advised of all deliberations and decisions of the Appeals Committee
and will be responsible for both informing nominees that an election is being disputed and any
decisions forthwith of the Appeals Committee.
• The decisions of the Appeals Committee shall be considered final and will not be subject to further
review unless required by Rotman Commerce, University of Toronto.

Withdrawals and Resignations

• Any nominee may withdraw from the election prior to voting by submitting a written letter
containing their name, their signature, elected position, date and tenure of withdrawal to the
Electoral Officer.
• An elected nominee may refuse to accept their elected positions, prior to their ratification by the
executive committee, provided they submit a written letter containing their name, their signature,
elected position, date and tenure of resignation to the Electoral Officer.
• In the event of withdrawal or resignation, the nominee with the next highest plurality of votes in the
election shall be declared the winner(s).

Ratification
• Pending decisions of the Electoral Officer and Election Appeals Committee, the executive
committee of the RCCA shall have final authority to ratify the results of elections. The Electoral
Officer must make a formal written recommendation to the executive committee on who should fill
each position based on the results of the elections and the Appeals Committee.
• Ratification of election results may be rendered no sooner than ten (10) working days and no later
than fifteen (15) working days after voting ends.
• The executive committee shall not have the authority to overrule decisions of the Electoral Officer
or Election Appeals Committee unless where deemed to be unethical or illegal as defined by the
Rotman Commerce Student Life Office.
• The executive committee shall have the authority to suggest recommendations to changes in the
administration of elections in future years based on the decisions and/or recommendations of the
Electoral Officer or the Election Appeals Committee.
• Results of ratification must be properly denoted in official meeting minutes for the the RCCA and
kept on-file for a period of a minimum of two (2) full academic years. These minutes must be made
available to members where requests have been submitted in writing to the President.

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 • Where no nominee has run in an election, the RCCA shall have the ability to appoint executives for
vacant positions. This must occur no later than May 1 through a formal hiring process by a
committee comprised of a majority number of newly-elected executives for the RCCA.

Other Rules
• Candidates who run unopposed are required to attend the Forum and Meet & Greet and are
encouraged to actively campaign.
• Successful candidates will have a meeting scheduled shortly after the elections.
• Successful candidates must also attend a mandatory executive training session offered by the
Commerce Programs Office after elections on February 11th, 2011.

VIOLATION OF ANY ONE OF THE ABOVE RULES WILL PROVIDE GROUNDS FOR
DISQUALIFICATION OF THE CANDIDATE. RULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. WHILE CANDIDATES
WILL BE INFORMED OF ANY CHANGES, THE ONUS IS ON THE CANDIDATE TO CHECK THE
WEBSITE REGULARLY FOR ANY AMENDMENTS.

I understand and will comply with the Consulting Association’s election rules and guidelines. I
have read and agree to abide by the rules outlined in the RCCA Constitution and I have read
and understood the job description outlined in the Policy Manual and agree to fulfill the duties
if elected.

Name: _____________________________ Date: ________________________________

Signature: _____________________________

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Appendix A: Nomination Form

NOMINATION FORM FOR ELECTIONS

Name: ___________________________ Student Number: _____________________

Telephone: _______________________ Email: ______________________________

Position Sought: ________________________________ Year of Study: ______________

Nominations (10 Rotman Commerce Students from U of T St. George Campus Required):

Name Student #
Signatur
e
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2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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To complete this nomination form, please submit this form, along with:

1. Your candidate platform

 Answer the question “Why I am the most Qualified Candidate for This Position” in approximately
300 words or less.
 Attach a hardcopy of this paragraph to this nomination form.
 Carefully read through the RCCA election rules and guidelines and submit a signed copy indicating
your agreement to comply with the rules and guidelines.

Your candidate platform must also be sent via e-mail to daniella.gan@utoronto.ca (text only - no
email attachment please), along with a digital picture of yourself.

Important dates of the election process:

• Nomination deadline: January 17th at 4PM. Please submit your nomination form (with signed
elections rules and platform paragraph) in a sealed envelope to the undergraduate Rotman
Commerce Student Life Office, 321 Bloor Street West; Room WO 13 (attention to RCCA, Rotman
Commerce – Elections). No late applications will be accepted.
• Nominees meeting: January 25th at 2PM. All nominees meeting to discuss rules, process for
appeals, and critical dates
• Campaign Period: Monday, January 31st at midnight until Wednesday, February 2nd at 4PM.
• Forum and Meet and Greet: Friday, January 28th in Kruger Hall at 12-2PM.
• Voting Day: February 3rd and 4th
• Ratification Day: February 18th at 4PM
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