The UWSA strives to support and execute an equitable and transparent process for electing UWSA members to director and president roles. The Chief Returning Officer (CRO), supported by the Communications Officer and an Elections Working Group, is responsible for implementing and overseeing the annual election process.
Chief Returning Officer
The Chief Returning Officer (CRO) is appointed for a two-year term to run elections for director and president in accordance with the UWSA By-law (Section 11.1) and UWSA policies and procedures, and to verify the vote outcomes.
The CRO will create a working group of three UWSA Members, for the purpose of verifying the results, and work with the Operations Team to administer the election.
Elections Working Group
Each summer, the CRO recruits a working group of three UWSA members to help ensure that the UWSA election process is equitable and transparent, and to review and confirm the election results. The working group's main role is to validate the results of the election in Simply Voting. They may also review election plans and procedures and raise any concerns to the CRO.
The Working Group is selected at random: UWSA staff provide the CRO with the names of twelve randomly-selected members to ask to join.
Current CRO
Tara Campbell
Members
The Elections Working Group is not currently operating.
Elections Working Group Terms of Reference
Purpose
The Elections Working Group (EWG) supports the integrity, transparency, and verification of election results.
Composition
The group consists of three UWSA members.
Members must:
- be in good standing
- not be candidates in the election
- not have a conflict of interest
Recruitment
The CRO is responsible for:
- Issuing a call for volunteers OR selecting from a pool of members, randomly selected from the UWSA membership list by the Ops Team
- Confirming availability
- Explaining the requirements and processes to EWG members
Responsibilities
The EWG will:
- Review the ballot procedures and setup
- Verify results after polls close
- Confirm:
- Vote totals
- Ranking (if preferential ballots used)
- That no anomalies are present
- Provide confirmation to the CRO
System access
EWG members are granted results-only access in Simply Voting before the ballot is proofed.
Past EWG members must be removed from access lists following the Annual Meeting.
Meetings
Typically, two virtual meetings are required—one before the vote to orient members to the Simply Voting system, and one after voting closes to confirm the results. The CRO may choose to confirm results without a meeting, or to schedule additional meetings as required.
Completion of role
After results are verified:
- EWG members confirm results to the CRO.
- The CRO thanks EWG members and closes the group’s work.
Reporting
The CRO incorporates confirmation into the official results process. EWG members may be acknowledged in election reporting.