Standard For the Conduct of Dublin City University
                     Elections and referenda

The purpose of this document is to provide a public standard  for
the good conduct and provision of AMS Elections

Contents:
 *  General
 *  Referenda
 *  Means of Election
 *  Polling officers
 *  Valid ballots
 *  Arbitration
 *  Appendix
 *  Reasoning

General :

Referenda and Elections of the society should occur at a  General
Meeting  of  the  Society,  in  accordance  with the consitution.
Motions accepted from the floor by the chair shall  be  conducted
as  referenda. This document shall in no way override any part of
the society consitution.

It is proposed that  this  document  be  made  available  to  the
membership prior to a general meeting, and that intrested parties
be given the opportunity to examine it's contents.  Notwithstand-
ing  any  objections, this document shall be the final arbiter of
process for a general meeting.

In all ties, the chair has casting  vote.  At  their  discretion,
they may toss a coin, or use any other means to cast this vote.

Referenda :

Referenda may be polled by show of hands , or at  the  discretion
of  chair  (upon  a request from the floor) secret ballot. In the
event of a show of hands, the decision of chair as to the  stand-
ing of the resolution is final.

Means of Election:

All candidates for election must be deemed electable as  per  the
constitution.  All  candidates  must  be  nominated, seconded and
accept as per the constituion. The chair  of  the  society  shall
ensure  that all reveant details of candidture are made available
to the meeting, namely:

   * Full name of the candidate
   * Any prior position held in the society 

Candidates shall be entitled  to  make  a  speech  on  their  own
behalf, or  a third party make one on their behalf. The length of
this speech shall be moderated by chair.  At  the  discretion  of
chair, questions may be fielded from the membership.

In the event of a single candidate being presented for  election,
election  shall be my means of a majority yes/no ballot. This may
be polled by show of hands, or at the discretion of chair (upon a
request from the floor) , by secret ballot.

In the event of two or more candidates being presented for  elec-
tion,  election  shall be by Proportional Represensation by means
of a single transferable vote, as described in Appendix A.

Polling Officers:

The committee shall make attempts to secure a Returning  officer,
charged  with the correct and fair operation of all elections and
referenda.

Valid Ballots:

In the event of a show of hands, a  valid  ballot  constitutes  a
raised  hand  concurrent with the call for a show of hands either
for or against the motion. No person may raise  their  hand  more
than once. At the discretion of chair, abstentions may be polled.

In the event of a secret ballot, a valid ballot  must  be  on  an
official  ballot  paper  clearly marked for the current poll.  If
the ballot is for a referendum or  a  single  candidate  it  must
indicate a "yes" or a "no". Otherwise, the ballot must consist of
the preferences of the member clearly marked on  the  ballot.  At
the  discretion  of  the  chair,  ballots  may  involve assigning
preferences to options, or vice versa.

Candidates must be referenced only by name.

No words, distinguished identifying features (other  than  normal
handwriting) or marks of any kind other than the selected prefer-
ences or options must be indicated on the ballot.

Arbitration:

If the chair deems it appropriate a re-examination of the ballots
may  be  requested  by any member (in the case of a referendum or
motion) or a candidate (in the  case  of  an  election).  If  the
request  is  entertained,  the ballots must be re-counted and re-
examined for validity. In the case of  elections,  the  unanimous
agreement  of  candidates on the status of a ballot is sufficient
to determine it's validity. Failing this, the chair and returning
officer  shall  make  their best efforts to determine validity as
prescribed by this document.

Appendix A:

Proportional Representation by means  of  a  single  transferable
vote

The Quota is defined as

    (total valid poll / number of positions) + 1

A candidate is deemed elected upon reaching  quota,  or  being  a
remaining candidate following eliminations.

Surpluses of quota ae distributed prior to  eliminations  and  in
direct proportion to the next valid preferences on all ballots of
that candidates ballots.

All ballots for an eliminated candidates are  directly  transfer-
able as per the next valid preference.

Reasoning:

PRSTV has been chosen for several reasons. It is the  traditional
means  for  these elections, it is a solid and fair system, it is
the national norm.

The Reasoning behing identifying words,marks and features exclud-
ing  a valid poll is a basic tenet of democracy. The secrecy of a
secret ballot is integral to it's  correct  functioning.  Suppose
that  a  candidate  may  threaten  (or offer to reward) a member.
Without a secret ballot, that is feasible. The person making  the
threat/offer  may  require  that a mark be present to distinguish
the ballot. If they see the mark, they can confirm the  vote.  If
not,  they  can  carry  out  their threat. The only defense is to
exclude all clearly distinguishable ballots.