Election Rules

SBA Election Rules/Guidelines

SBA Election Rules

General Election (Spring):

The offices open for election in the Spring are: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, SAC representative, ABA representative, GSA representative and SGA representative. In addition, 3 bar governors from both the rising 1L and 2L classes.

Petitions must be filed by all candidates running for office.

The pertinent dates for candidates are:

A petition with 25 signatures of law school students must be submitted to either an election committee member or the SBA office by Monday, April 9 at 12 p.m. Speeches for candidates will be held Monday, April 9th at 12:30 in the student lounge. Elections will be held Tuesday, April 11th and Wednesday, April 12th from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

The winner of all elections except for bar governors must win by more than 50% of the vote. Bar governor winners will be determined by the top three vote getters in each class.

In the event there is not a majority winner in any particular election, there will be a runoff the week following the election.

Petition information: 25 signatures of students that support your candidacy (notebook paper is ok).
This signature list must be turned in to one of the election committee members (Chuck Holliday, Chasity Halford, or Lauren Hill) or placed under the SBA office door by Monday at 12 p.m. on the respective due date. (See #2 above). Signatures can also be placed in Election Committee member's mailboxes.

Speeches shall be no more than 2 minutes each. For presidential candidates, a minimum of one-minute speech will be required.

Each candidate must provide 2 people to work the polls. These people cannot be candidates. Each candidate's list of poll workers should be turned into an Election Committee member by Tuesday at 9 a.m.


Campaign material is limited to the downstairs student lounge area. Nothing shall be posted in the stairwells or beyond the glass wall separating the lounge from the library corridor.

Candidates shall not spend more than ten dollars ($10) on campaign materials.

Candidates can have no more than 10 signs and they can be no bigger than poster size.

Candidates shall not provide food or beverages to students.

Candidates shall campaign through verbal means only not through the distribution of campaign materials.

Only the candidate may wear a campaign sticker and or button. The candidate's supporters may not wear any such stickers or buttons.

Candidates shall not loiter around the poll.

Neither candidates nor their supporters shall campaign by email.

There shall be no campaigning in the lunchroom area of the lounge on Election Day.

Campaign materials may be distributed and displayed as soon as petitions are turned in.

The election committee determines the violation of the terms of the election rules.

Candidates are responsible for the actions of their supporters and supporters are bound by these rules.

Suspected violations of the election rules must be brought to the attention of the Election Committee immediately.

In the event no poll workers are available for a particular hour, the voting box will be left in Dean DeWitt's office.

All elections are bound by the rules of the SBA Constitution, a copy of which is on reserve in the library.


1L Bar Governor Election (Fall):

You must be a first year student. Only first year students will be allowed to vote.

There are 3 bar governors elected in the Fall. The top three vote getters will be elected to office.

50% of those students voting will be sufficient for election to office.

In case of a tie there will be a runoff the next day between the people who had the same number of votes. Example: person A has 50 votes, they are elected; person B has 40 votes and is elected; persons C & D have 30. The runoff would be between C and D.

Candidates shall give a maximum of a 2-minute speech on Wednesday at noon in the student lounge. An Election Committee member will coordinate speeches.

Elections will be held on Thursday, September 7th. Polls will be open from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. If no one is available to watch the polls, the election material will be available in the career services office.

Campaign material is limited to the downstairs student lounge area. Nothing shall be posted in the stairwells or beyond the glass wall separating the lounge from the library corridor.

Candidates shall not spend more then ten (10) dollars on campaign materials.

Candidates can have no more than 10 signs and they can be no bigger than poster size.

Candidates shall not provide food or beverages to students.

Candidates shall campaign through verbal means only, not through the distribution of campaign materials.

Only the candidate may wear a campaign sticker or button. The candidate’s supporters may not wear any such stickers or buttons.

Candidates shall not loiter around the poll.

Neither Candidates nor their supporters shall campaign by e-mail.

There shall be no campaigning in the lunchroom area of the lounge on election day.

Violation of the terms of the election rules is determined by the election committee.

Candidates are responsible for the actions of their supporters and supporters are bound by these rules.

Suspected violations of the election rules must be brought to the attention of the election committee immediately.

posted by SBA Board @ 4:50 PM 1 comments