All-University elections and elections for colleges or schools
having two or more elective representatives shall use the election method
prescribed below. Colleges or schools having only one elective representative
shall use a method determined by the Secretary of the General Faculty.
All voting shall be by secret ballot, either electronically or by mail.
a.
Nominating or primary election. In an election in
which one or two seats are to be filled, a voter shall nominate
in the primary election no more than one candidate. In an election
in which more than two seats are to be filled, the voter shall
nominate no more than two candidates. (In the selection of the
all-University representatives, up to two names chosen from a group
consisting of assistant professors and instructors with voting
membership in the General Faculty and up to two names from a group
consisting of associate professors and professors shall be nominated
by each voter.) The persons receiving the highest number of nominations
shall be the candidates for the final election. At least two names
shall be presented for each place, unless, in the judgment of the
Secretary and consistent with fairness and the spirit of these
rules, there is a practical reason for a different number.
b.
Final election. The following preferential voting
process, the Hare-Clark System, a version of the Hare System, shall
be followed in the final election of all-University representatives.
1.
The final ballot and the casting of the
vote.
a.
On the final ballot
the names of the nominees shall
be either in alphabetical order
or in random order (that is, with
all orderings equally likely).
In all-University elections there
shall be two separate and distinct
ballots, one for candidates nominated
from the group of instructors and
assistant professors, and the other
for the candidates nominated from
the group of associate professors
and professors. Each voter shall
record his or her choices for the
positions to be filled in order
of preference, the number "1" indicating
first choice, "2" second
choice, and so on, through all
of the voter's choices.
2.
Determining the results.
a.
Electoral quota. An electoral quota,
q, shall be computed as follows: If n denotes the
number of ballots cast and p denotes the number
of positions to be filled, then q shall be the
greatest whole number (positive integer) not exceeding
(n/(p + 1)) + 1. That is, if (n/(p + 1)) + 1 is
a whole number, then that whole number is q; otherwise,
q is (n/(p + 1)) + 1 rounded down to a whole number
b.
Initial step. The initial vote for
a candidate shall be the number of first choices
for the candidate.
c.
Any candidate whose vote equals
or exceeds the electoral quota, q, shall be elected.
If p of the positions are filled after this step,
the process is complete.
d.
Subsequent steps. If the process
is not complete at the end of the preceding step,
then it shall continue by repeatedly transferring
ballots (votes) among candidates according to rules
(e) and (f) which follow. When rule (e) is applied,
the weight of each transferred ballot will be decreased
as described in (e). Thus, after the initial step,
at which each ballot has a weight of one, a candidate's
vote total need not be a whole number. If the process continues beyond the initial step, it
will be complete when either (i) all of the positions have
been filled by transfers using (e), or (ii) the number of
candidates who have not been eliminated using (f) equals
the number of positions to be filled, at which point the
candidates not eliminated are elected.
e.
Transfers from elected candidates.
After any step in which a candidate has been elected
with v (q or more) votes, determine the surplus,
s = v - q, of votes for that candidate. (If v =
q, then proceed to the next paragraph.) Multiply
the weight of each of the candidate's ballots by
s/v, and then transfer each such ballot to the
candidate who is the next choice on the ballot.
If the next candidate has been either elected or
eliminated, go to the next choice, and so on until,
if possible, reaching a candidate who has been
neither elected nor eliminated; then add the weight
of the ballot to that candidate's total vote. When the preceding step has been completed for each previously
elected candidate, return to step (c) if any candidate is
newly elected, and otherwise go to step (f).
f.
T ransfers to eliminate candidates.
After the initial step or any application of step
(e) in which no candidate is newly elected, the
remaining candidate with the least number of votes
shall be eliminated. (In the event of two or more
candidates with the same least number of votes,
use (g) which follows.) Each of the eliminated
candidate's ballots shall be transferred to the
candidate who is the next choice on the ballot;
if the next choice has been either elected or eliminated,
go to the next choice, and so on until, if possible,
reaching a candidate who has been neither elected
nor eliminated; then add the weight of the ballot
to that candidate's total vote. Now return to step
(c).
g.
Ties. If a tie occurs at any point
in the process, the choice or choices shall be
made in such a way that the candidates who are
tied have equal chances of being selected.
h.
Preferential ranking. For the purpose
of filling vacancies, the preferential ranking
of candidates not elected shall be the reverse
of the order in which the candidates were eliminated
in the election process, that is, the last candidate
eliminated shall be the first preferential choice,
and so on.
