Checklist: Council Elections for Regulatory Colleges

While regulatory colleges have a great degree of freedom in how they run their council election, they tend to follow a similar process. Regardless of whether holding elections off or online, there are certain steps along the way that every election must adhere to. 

The Electoral Process at a Glance

1. The council or President should appoint an electoral committee to help manage the election. They will be responsible for ensuring that the election runs smoothly and every member receives the appropriate documentation.
    
2. The committee will have to create the electoral roll. This will feature every member that is eligible to run and vote, so the roll must be up to date. The roll should also divide voters up into their appropriate districts.
    
3. Once the roll is up to date, the nominations should be opened. This should be done at least a month in advance of the election. Members looking to run for a position must fill out a form that they submit to the electoral committee. The committee must then determine whether the prospective nominee is eligible to run.
    
4. Once the nominees have been announced, the ballot must be created. Keep in mind that each district will have its own ballot. If needed, the ballots should be printed off and mailed to the voters on election day.
    
5. The election now begins in the agreed upon method. Voters can cast their vote during this time period.
    
6. The election ends and the votes are tallied. The results are announced to the college. 

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Download the Election Checklist

As you can see, there a lot of steps that goes into planning an election. Fortunately, POLYAS has compiled an in-depth checklist to help you keep on top of things.

The checklist is free to download:
Checklist Council Elections Online

The Electoral Roll

The electoral roll is perhaps the single most important document in any election. It lists every eligible voter and prospective nominee. Keeping the role up to date is a crucial aspect of any election. 

Go through your electoral roll and ensure that any former members are no longer listed. Conversely, make sure that all new members have been added. If there are members with special voting rights, make sure their rights are clearly listed. While your roll must at least include the name of the members, POLYAS suggests also featuring their contact details. This will allow you to easily send them information regarding the election. Have members fill in their contact details when joining the college.

In the case of regulatory college elections, members can only nominate and vote within their district. Therefore, it is vital that the voters are properly segmented into groups.

POLYAS recommends keeping the electoral roll on a digital spreadsheet. If you conduct your election with POLYAS, you simply need to upload the document and the rest will be taken care of for you. If you would like to learn more about online voting, click here.