Election Campaign Practices Committee (ECPC)

​Committee Charge

  1. An Election Campaign Practices Committee is hereby established and shall consist of three persons to be appointed by the Board of Trustees for a term of two years each, and the Secretary, ex-officio, without vote. The Board shall designate one of the appointed members to chair the Committee. The appointed members' terms shall begin at the close of General Assembly in odd-numbered years. The Board may appoint an individual to fill a vacancy in the membership of the Committee; persons appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve the balance of the vacating member's term. Persons appointed to the Committee shall remain neutral in elections held while they are serving and shall not engage in electioneering. Persons who seek nomination pursuant to Bylaw Sections 9.4, 9.5, or 9.6 are ineligible to serve on the Committee once they begin seeking nomination, and shall be deemed to have resigned from the Committee effective upon seeking nomination if they are then serving.
  2. The duties of the Election Campaign Practices Committee shall be:
    1. to distribute the campaign practices guidelines and financial disclosure rules to candidates for at-large elective positions not later than thirty days after nomination by the nominating committee or receipt of petition;
    2. to receive and consider written complaints of alleged violations of such guidelines or rules; if the committee finds probable cause to establish that a violation exists, to notify a candidate or a number of candidates how they may voluntarily comply with guidelines or rules and how long they have to do so; to attempt to mediate disputes arising from such complaints; and, if no satisfactory resolution of a complaint is achieved, to adjudicate the dispute and report the adjudication in writing to the candidates affected;
    3. to hold such hearings as may, at the Committee's discretion, be necessary or desirable to carry out the intent of subsection 2 above; and
    4. to report on its activities and any recommendations it may have to the Board of Trustees at its October meeting following the elections.
  3. If compliance to an adjudicated decision is not implemented by the stated deadline, the Committee is authorized to block or remove Association-subsidized privileges from the candidate's campaign.
    Candidates adjudicated to be in serious violation of Rule G-9.13.7(c) may have their names removed from the ballot. Any such action pursuant to Rule G-9.13.10(c) shall be reported to the Board of Trustees and to the General Assembly. Such adjudication by the ECPC would be subject to automatic review by the Board Executive Committee according to the provisions of Rule G-9.13.10(d).
  4. Any candidate aggrieved by the Committee's adjudication may, within ten days of the mailing of the adjudication, appeal in writing to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine such an appeal. The Executive Committee shall report its decision on the appeal in writing to the affected candidates as expeditiously as feasible. The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees is authorized to issue any order or ruling it deems appropriate in connection with such a decision
  5. Any member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees who is a candidate for UUA elective office shall not participate in any manner in the determination of any appeal from an adjudication of the Election Campaign Practices Committee.

Meeting Minutes