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CENTRAL ELECTORAL BOARD USC-CSC ELECTION APPROVED GUIDELINES

A. PRE-ELECTION

1.  The Certificate of Candidacy (COC) can be downloaded online (www.soadosa.org or fb.com/soadosa), or it may be photocopied. Original copy is available at the Student Organizations and Activities Division (SOAD), and the Office of the College Secretary (OCS) of each College.

2.  The list of candidates approved by the CEB shall be final.

3.  The official ELECTION PERIOD starts on March 16, 2015, 8:00am and ends on May 11, 2015, 5:00 pm.

4.  The official CAMPAIGN PERIOD (offline and online, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.) starts on March 30, 2015, 1pm and ends on April 21, 2015, 11:59 pm.

5.  Campaign materials such as posters should have a maximum size of a cartolina and streamers must have a maximum size of 4m × 1m for individual candidate, and 4m x 2m for party streamers. The use of tarpaulins is highly discouraged.

These materials must be posted only in the designated area inside the University as specified by the College Deans and building administrators. No campaign materials must be posted/placed outside the University.

Posters, ribbons and other campaign materials posted on painted walls, posts, trees, and bridges are strictly prohibited. Only flyers, leaflets, bookmarks and creative materials donated by sponsors, organizations, and benefactors should be given to the voters.

Centralized poster areas shall be designated per college.

Centralized poster areas for USC candidates: DL Umali Bulletin, S.U. Board, Community Board in front of Planters’ Bank.

6.  Vote buying is strictly prohibited.

7.  Each party is allowed to spend a maximum of P2.00 for every registered student as financial expenses for all the campaign materials used.

8.  Notarized financial statement (per party/independent candidate) should be submitted one week after the election.  This deadline is set on April 30, 2015 at 5pm.

9.  Candidate' profiles and parties’ platforms which can help the voters decide who to vote before the election and the voters’ guide (UPLB students voting procedure flow chart) shall be posted at UPLB website in order to save time during the actual voting.

10.  Black propaganda materials, both offline or online, as determined by the Board are prohibited.

11.The incumbent University Student Council and the UPLB Perspective are responsible in organizing the University Level Miting de Avance on April 21, 2015. The incumbent College Student Councils are responsible for their CollegeLevel Miting de Avance, which shall be held before the USC's Miting de Avance. Motorcade is allowed on the day of the Miting de Avance.  However, it should be held after office hours.

B. ELECTION PROPER

1.  All voting precincts as determined by the CEB shall open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on April 22, 2015 and 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on April 23, 2015. Only thosewho have signed by 5:00 pm on April 22, 2015 and 4:00 pm on April 23, 2015 are allowed to proceed with the voting.

2.  The voting area must provide privacy to voters. The voter' guide (UPLB students voting procedure flow chart) must be posted in the designated college level and major polling precincts (c/o USC).

3.  Every College Level Precinct shall be supervised by at least one (1) election officer (UPLB staff) and one (1) student volunteer (authorized by the College Student Council) while in the Major Polling Precinct, at least two (2) election officers and two (2) student volunteers (authorized by either College or University Student Council and not a candidate for any position in the election).

The number of election officers and student volunteers may be increased depending on the number of available computers as long as the ratio of one election officer to one student volunteer is always maintained.

A member of the technical staff (e.g. YSES) should always be present in every polling precinct. Only one poll watcher per party is allowed in the poll watchers’ designated area in every polling precinct.

4.  All forms of campaigning during the election days are prohibited. No sample ballot shall be distributed during the election days. The CEB shall provide the official list of candidates in the polling precinct.

5.  Candidates may monitor the conduct of the elections as long as they do not violate any of the provisions of the election code and guidelines and should be 15 meters away from the polling place.

6.  A Form 5 or Certification of Enrolment from the College Secretary together with any valid ID or just a validated UPLB ID will be required before the issuance of the authentication code. The voter must sign the official voter' list with his/her name.

7.  In case of power interruption and/or computer malfunction (i.e., zero working computer unit in a precinct), the election hours will be extended in proportion to the numbers of hours missed. If not possible, the CEB shall decide when to reschedule the election date.

8.  Disqualification. A student who is serving a penalty of suspension (as distinguished from mere preventive suspension) as of the day of the elections shall not be qualified as an elector.

C. POST ELECTION

1.  Canvassing of votes shall immediately follow after the election is officially closed. It will be done by inputting the computer-generated keys by which results will be determined in a matter of seconds. The keys shall be held by the USC Chair, Perspective Editor-in Chief, SOAD Head and the OSA Director, and shall be given to them at the very start of the election day.

2.  Breaking a Tie. When two or more candidates have received an equal number of votes which would entitle them to a position, the winner shall be chosen from among them: by tossing a coin for 2 winners; and by drawing lots for 3 or more winners.

3.  Official candidates are responsible in the clean-up of campaign materials immediatelyafter the election period. All campaign materials must be removed by April 30, 2015.

D. PROTEST PERIOD

1.  Formal protest with evidence on the results will be entertained by the CEB only until 5 pm of May 5, 2015. Official protests should be submitted to the SOAD office, copies of which are to be forwarded immediately to members of the CEB.

2.  The CEB must resolve all official complaints. Protest must therefore be properly documented upon submission. Witnesses and complainants must be available during the deliberations.

3.  The CEB' decision on the complaints is final and irrevocable.

4.  In cases of complaints not resolved within the specified period, the CEB shall proclaim the winners as soon as cases are resolved.

E. REQUIRED NUMBER OF CANDIDATES

1.  For USC: It shall, be composed of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, ten (10) University Councilors, and one (1) College Representative for each unit with a College Secretary.

2.  For CSC: It shall be composed of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and College Councilors relative to the actual College population to be determined by the CEB.

a.  Ten (10) for each college with population of 1,500 and below

b.  Additional one (1) councilor for every 500 in excess of 1500

F. POLLING PRECINCTS

G. PENALTIES: (lifted from Article XIII of the University of the Philippines Los Baños Student Council Election Code).

  SECTION 1. Penalties for cases of violations decided before the day/s of election are  the following:

a.  The penalty for a violation committed by a candidate for any UPLB Student Council position that is decided before the day of the election shall be: (1) reprimand, or (2) disqualification as such candidate, or (3) disqualification as such candidate and as elector in the forthcoming UPLB Student Council Elections, depending on the gravity of the offense.

If his/her disqualification as candidate stems only from his/her failure to submit any of the requirements prescribed in Article VII of this Code, such disqualification shall not include disqualification as an elector.

However, if the act committed falls under the category of misrepresentation of facts, or tampering with/falsifying official records, or the like, the penalty is disqualification both as a candidate and as an elector in the forthcoming elections and the submission of the case to the Student Disciplinary Tribunal.

b.  The penalty for violations committed by a qualified elector or by a student who is not a qualified elector that is decided before the day of the elections shall be: (1) reprimand or (2) total disqualification from the participation in the forthcoming UPLB Student Council Elections, depending on the gravity of the offense.

  SECTION 2. Penalties for cases of violations decided after the day/s of the election are  the following:

a.  The penalty of violations committed by a candidate who has been proclaimed a winner that is decided after the day of the election shall be: (1) reprimand, or (2) forfeiture of position and disqualification as a possible candidate in the UPLB Student Council Elections to be held the following academic year, or (3) forfeiture of the position and total disqualification from participating in the aforesaid future elections, depending on the gravity of the offense.

b.  The penalty of violation/s committed by a candidate who lost that is decided after the day of the election shall be: (1) reprimand, or (2) disqualification as a possible candidate in the UPLB Student Council Elections to be held the following academic year, or (3) total disqualification from participating in the aforesaid future elections, depending on the gravity of the offense.

c.  The penalty of violations committed by a qualified elector, that is decided after the day of the election shall be: (1) reprimand, or (2) disqualification as a possible candidate in the UPLB Student Council Elections to be held the following academic year, or (3) total disqualification from participating in the aforesaid future elections, depending on the gravity of the offense.

Section 3.  Penalties for cases not stipulated herein shall be decided by the Board.

H. PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES FOR 2015 USC-CSC ELECTIONS