Article V: Elections
1. Whenever elections or referenda are required under these Bylaws, or under the charter of a legislative body established pursuant to Article II, Paragraph 5, of these Bylaws, such elections or referenda shall be conducted by secret ballot. Persons shall be elected to office, and referenda shall pass, only upon an affirmative majority of the valid votes cast in such elections or referenda, provided, however, that this requirement shall not limit the authority of the Voting Faculty to provide for cumulative voting in elections of representatives to a legislative body established pursuant to these Bylaws.
2. The Voting Faculty shall appoint a body of faculty members to establish rules and regulations for the conduct of faculty elections and referenda, and to supervise the conduct of faculty elections and referenda.
Article V: Elections and Referenda
1. In standing orders, the Senate shall provide rules and regulations for the conduct of faculty elections and referenda. Such rules and regulations shall be consistent with the laws of the State of New York and the United States, the Policies of the Board of Trustees, and the Bylaws of the Voting Faculty.
2. The Elections Committee shall supervise University-wide faculty elections and referenda and administer the rules and regulations promulgated by the Senate pursuant to Paragraph 1 of this Article.
3. Cumulative voting procedures shall be used in nominating and electing the Senators provided for in Article III, Paragraph 8, of this Charter. Those procedures shall provide that in each election each eligible voter within an electoral unit shall be allocated votes equal in number to the total number of Senators to be elected from the electoral unit in that election, and that the total number of votes so allocated may be cast for one or more candidates, in such proportion as each eligible voter determines.
4. The Senate may choose to use a mail ballot to submit propositions before the Senate to the Voting Faculty either for advice or for final disposition. A mail ballot on a proposition before the Senate is mandated when requested by twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the Senators present at any regular meeting of the Senate. When a proposition before the Senate is referred to the Voting Faculty, alternative propositions will be included on the ballot if supported by a vote of more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the Senators present at that meeting. Any alternative so presented shall be limited to the general issue of the original proposition which the Senate voted to refer to the Voting Faculty.
5. A referendum on a proposition before the Senate is mandated when requested by petition in writing by five percent (5%) of the Voting Faculty, signed by the petitioners and delivered to the Secretary of the Senate within twenty (20) calendar days (exclusive of University recesses or weekends) following notification to the Voting Faculty of any action taken by the Senate regarding the proposition in question.
6. Mail ballots or referenda under Paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article shall be completed within fifteen (15) calendar days following the distribution to the Voting Faculty of the ballot and any supporting materials.
7. All matters before the Senate may be referred to a mail ballot or referendum except questions of order and privilege, and motions to adjourn, to fix the time at which to adjourn, to accept minutes of previous meetings, to receive reports, and to refer to committees for study and report. For purposes of this Article, the terms 'proposition before the Senate' and 'matters before the Senate' mean items of Senate business on the agenda for or properly presented in a regular or special meeting of the Senate.
1. SENATE ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA
A. Types of elections
i. There are four types of Senate elections:
a. Election of Senators to the UB Faculty Senate by the various academic units and the University Libraries.
b. Election of FSEC representatives from the various academic units and the University Libraries.
c. Election of officers of the UB Faculty Senate.
d. Election of Senators to the University Faculty Senate of the State University of New York.
ii. The Senate Elections Committee shall monitor the elections of Senators to the UB Faculty Senate and of FSEC representatives and shall conduct elections for officers of the UB Faculty Senate and for Senators of the University Faculty Senate of the State University of New York, subject to the following provisions.
B. Election of Senators to the UB Faculty Senate
i. The election of Senators shall be conducted by the individual academic units and the University Libraries subject to the following provisions:
a. By October 15th, the Secretary of the Faculty Senate (newly elected or continuing) shall forward to each academic unit and the University Libraries a letter specifying the number of Senate seats to which that unit is entitled, a reasonably reliable schedule of Senate meetings for the coming academic year, and a brief description of the functions, duties and term of office of a Faculty Senator.
b. Those responsible for Senatorial elections in the academic units shall be asked to forward to the Secretary of the Senate the names, addresses. phone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses of newly elected and continuing Senators by the 15th of November. This timetable shall be mentioned in the Secretary's letter to the academic units.
C. Selection of FSEC Representatives
i. The Senators elected from each academic unit and the University Libraries shall be responsible for choosing their FSEC representative(s) according to their own procedures.
ii. Each academic unit and the University Libraries shall provide the Secretary of the UB Faculty Senate with the name of its newly-elected FSEC representative(s) for the subsequent academic year by 1 December.
iii. New FSEC representatives take office on the July 1 following their selection.
D. Election of Senate officers
i. The Elections Committee shall distribute a nominating ballot to all Voting Faculty in September and an elections ballot in November.
ii. It may also, at its discretion, appoint an ad hoc Nominating Committee.
iii. To appear on the elections ballot a nominee must meet both of the following conditions:
a. Be nominated by five members of the Voting Faculty, one of whom may be the nominee.
b. Provide a brief written statement (no more than one single-spaced typewritten page) to be distributed with the election ballot.
iv. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the Elections Committee shall conduct a run-off election for those candidates who received the two highest numbers of votes.
E. Election of Senators to the University Faculty Senate of the State University of New York, which represents both the Faculty and the Professional Staff in academic areas
i. The Elections Committee shall conduct elections in collaboration with the Professional Staff Senate.
ii. At least one member of the UB delegation to the University Faculty Senate of the State University of New York must be elected from and by the faculty and professional staff of the health science schools (Dental Medicine, Health Related Professions, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Nursing, and Pharmacy), and the others from and by the faculty and professional staff of all other academic units and of the University Libraries.
iii. Depending, therefore, on the vacancy to be filled, the Elections Committee shall distribute a nominating ballot in September and an elections ballot in November to all Voting Faculty and eligible Professional Staff either in the health sciences or in all other units.
iv. To appear on the elections ballot a nominee must meet both of the following conditions:
a. Be nominated by five persons, one of whom may be the nominee.
b. Provide a brief written statement (no more than one single-spaced typewritten page) to be distributed with the election ballot.
v. For every N vacancy to be filled the N nominees with the highest numbers of votes will be elected as Senators to the University Faculty Senate and the N nominees with the next highest numbers of votes will be appointed as Alternates. The Alternate with the highest number of votes shall become the Alternate to the Senator who received the highest number of votes, the Alternate with the second highest number of votes shall become the Alternate to the Senator with the second highest number of votes, etc. If there were insufficient nominees to fill all the Alternate positions the remaining Senators shall appoint their own Alternates.
vi. At the conclusion of the election the Secretary of the UB Faculty Senate shall notify the President of the University Faculty Senate of the State University of New York of the results.
vii. The Elections Committee may also, at its discretion, appoint an ad hoc Nominating Committee.
F. Election Procedures
In all elections and referenda conducted by the Faculty Senate the following procedures should apply.
i. The Elections Committee shall prepare and verify a master list of all faculty by the following process:
a. The Elections Committee shall obtain from Personnel Services preliminary lists of the Voting Faculty in each academic unit and the University Libraries.
b. The Elections Committee shall send these lists to the chief administrative officer of each academic unit and the University Libraries for verification.
c. The chief administrative officer or his/her designee will strike out names of persons who do not qualify as members of the Voting Faculty in that unit and add additional names of persons who do so qualify.
d. This revised list shall be sent on a timely basis to the Elections Committee in the name of the chief administrative officer of the unit. This list will be called the "verified list." If no verified list can be obtained, the preliminary list will be used in its stead.
e. A ballot will be sent to each person on the verified list.
ii. Mailing labels for each name on the verified list (plus parallel printouts arranged by School/Faculty and in a single alphabetical order) are to be obtained from Personnel Services.
iii. The Elections Committee shall set a date by which ballots must be received in the Senate Office. No ballots received after that date shall be counted.
iv. The envelope in which the ballot is returned must contain both the voter's signature, the voter's name (printed), and the name of the voters School, Faculty, or other affiliation. Lack of a signature will invalidate a ballot.
G. Referenda
i. Pursuant to Article V, Paragraphs 4-5 of the Charter, referenda on matters before the Senate must be used when requested either by i) twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the Senators present at any regular meeting of the Senate, or by ii) written petition of five percent (5%) of the Voting Faculty.
a. Prior to the mail referendum the Senate may choose to call a special meeting of the Voting Faculty to discuss the general issue which the Senate is referring to the Voting Faculty. This meeting, if called, is for information purposes only and shall not substitute for the mail ballot called for in the Charter.
b. A brief statement of the issue(s), plus position papers prepared by both supporters and opponents of the issue(s) in question, shall be distributed with the ballot and made available to those who attend any special meeting called to discuss the issue.
c. Mail ballots shall be distributed using the same procedures prescribed for Elections (cf.1. F above).
d. The results of each referendum shall be announced at the next regular meeting of the Senate and shall be included in the Minutes for that meeting.
H. Electronic Voting. Referenda, resolutions and elections of the Voting Faculty may be conducted by electronic voting. (added 11/3/2015)
i. Electronic voting by Voting faculty may be conducted only after resolutions have been presented and discussed at two Faculty Senate meetings (cf. Standing Orders, 5.A.iii), unless judged urgent and requiring haste by the Chair (cf. Standing Orders, 5.B). The resolution and any proposed amendments along with pertinent arguments for or against will be sent electronically to the official e-mail address of all Voting Faculty members together with instructions on the voting process for the resolution and amendments. Votes will be Yes, No or Abstain for the resolution and each amendment. Votes must be cast within 14 days of the e-mail announcement. All votes will be confirmed by a reply to a message sent to the official UB e-mail address of the Faculty member. Upon confirmation the vote will be officially cast. As with paper ballots, passage of the referendum or resolution will be based on a Yes response by either a simple majority or a 2/3 majority of votes cast depending on the rules affected as described (cf. Bylaws, VII.4; Charter, VIII.3.B; Standing Orders, G).
ii. Electronic elections of SUNY Senators and Faculty Senate officers will be performed as described in the preceding paragraph and determined by a simple majority of votes cast.
iii. The results of all electronic votes will be transmitted to the Faculty Senate and Voting Faculty electronically and recorded in the minutes of the next Faculty Senate meeting by a report from the Chair.
iv. No one who is a candidate in any given election will participate in vote counting in that election.
v. Electronic voting procedures will ensure the confidentiality and accuracy of voting procedures and may include e-mail balloting and casting as recommended by the Elections Committee and approved by the Faculty Senate Executive Committee.
