ELECTION GUIDELINES

(Election 2011)

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Toronto (UPAAT)

(CONFIDENTIAL)
Subject: Call for Nomination and Election of Executive Council Members for the Term 2011-2013
Committee on Election (COMELEC):
Chair: Rene Reynoso (416) 884-7367, Email: rrreynoso@gmail.com
Member: Daisy Bernabe (905) 479-7481, Email: daisy_bernabe@rogers.com
Member: Redentor Liboro (905) 416-260-8954, Email: redlitalib@yahoo.com
Date of Election: March 18, 2011, Friday 8:00 PM
Location: YMCA, 20 Grosvenor St., Toronto, Ontario

ELIGIBILITY

An eligible member, who can participate in the election process – i.e. to nominate, be nominated, to vote, and
be elected – is a regular member in good standing based on the official records of the Membership
Committee. Specifically,
(1) Registered member must have unexpired membership status by March 18, 2011.
(2) First-time member must register by March 11, 2011.
(3) Previous member must renew membership by March 17, 2011.
(4) Membership due must be paid no later than March 17, 2011.
Note: Please contact the Membership Committee for issues on membership status or eligibility.

NOMINATION

(1) Nomination Form is available via the UPAAT website, Yahoo Group and COMELEC.
(2) An eligible member may nominate up to 4 nominees, including himself/herself (one form per nominee).
(3) Form must be duly signed and dated, by hand or typed onto the form, by both nominator and nominee,
respectively.
(4) Nomination Form must be received by COMELEC on or before March 17, 2011.
(5) Deadline may be extended at COMELEC’s discretion (e.g. Less than 15 qualified nominees, technical
glitches in website or any unforeseen event).
(6) COMELEC, Membership Committee or DB Administrator will validate the Nomination Form.
(7) COMELEC will distribute or announce the List of Candidates before the election.
Note: Early submission of nomination forms is highly recommended to minimize unnecessary delays.

QUORUM

For the purpose of UPAAT Election 2011, attendance by at least 30 eligible members constitutes a quorum.
In conjunction with the Membership Committee, COMELEC will declare whether or not there is a quorum
for the UPAAT Election.

RATIONALE: (This section is intended for Council deliberations only and not for general release)
Whereas UPAAT Constitution is devoid of a clear-cut definition of a quorum, the Executive Council
empowered COMELEC to come up with a meaningful definition of a quorum for this Election. In its desire
to strike a balance between expedience and legitimacy, COMELEC carefully analyzed several criteria
described below. COMELEC decided to follow the same principle described in Criterion (d) based on a
quorum of 50 used by the UPAA Mother Chapter. However, COMELEC recognizes that the Mother Chapter
has a larger membership than UPAAT. Instead of adopting the same absolute number, COMELEC uses the
approximate 2:1 ratio between the required number of voters in attendance and the total elected Board
members in UPAA Mother Chapter. By correlation, a quorum for UPAAT Election 2011 is defined as 30
attending eligible members (15 multiplied by 2). This method uses a fixed reference based on 15 available
positions in the UPAAT Executive Council.
Date: February 21, 2011 Page 1
 ELECTION GUIDELINES
(Election 2011)

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Toronto (UPAAT)

(CONFIDENTIAL)

Criteria for Consideration:

(a) Simple Majority

For legitimacy reason, 50% + 1 is the ideal number for a quorum. However, past history of UPAAT
election turnouts was not very encouraging. Although there were no official statistics, many past
Council members could not say with confidence that in previous UPAAT elections there were more
than half of eligible members in attendance. Adopting this option may result in postponement of the
Election as planned.

(b) Actual Attendance

This guarantees that election will be held as planned but its legitimacy may be in question, especially
if there were ridiculously too few eligible members in attendance. It could be argued that this option
may save the organization the time and cost of calling another election and avoid the indefinite
extension of Council members’ service beyond their terms of office. However, it is difficult to justify
expedience at the expense of legitimacy even if this method could stave off postponement of the
election. Undoubtedly, if there were a very good chance of sufficient attendance, this method will lend
itself to a more acceptable election. For instance, elections held by most non-profit organizations as
well as some public and private corporations offer historical precedence supporting this criterion.
However, COMELEC subscribes to a more legitimate election than just convenience.

(c) UPAAT Council + Election Machinery

Another idea of a quorum is based on an arbitrary number calculated by adding the number of UPAAT
Council positions (15), the number of Board of Canvassers (5) and a representative from Membership
Committee (1). In this case, a quorum consists of 21 eligible members in attendance (=15+5+1).

(d)Ratio from UPAA Mother Chapter

The UPAA Mother Chapter in the Philippines has adopted in its Constitution a minimum of 50
attending members required to form a quorum for holding general elections of its 23 Board Members.
Whether or not 50 is an arbitrary number, the fact is that the relative size of the Mother Chapter’s
membership is larger than UPAAT’s. Instead of referencing the absolute number, COMELEC looks at
the ratio between the assigned quorum to the total Board Members in UPAA Mother Chapter (50
divided into 23), or approximately a 2:1 ratio.

VOTING

(1) Official Ballot is numbered and contains an alphabetical list of names of all candidates.
(2) Any eligible member may vote for up to 15 candidates listed in the Official Ballot.
(3) If the number of candidates is 15 or less, all candidates are automatically acclaimed but the voting and
tallying of votes will still continue for record-keeping and statistical purposes.
(4) On Election day, March 18, 2011:
(a) Registration starts at 6:00 PM
(b) Membership Committee must assign a ballot number to each voter on the roster.
(c) Voter must pick up his/her own ballot (and proxy ballot if needed) at Registration Desk.
(d) Ballots must be deposited at designated poll box marked “COMELEC” anytime before the poll
closes at 9 PM.
(e) Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.
Note: Time permitting: candidates will be given 1-2 minutes each to speak before the general membership as
a means of introduction and promotion.
Date: February 21, 2011 Page 2
 ELECTION GUIDELINES
(Election 2011)

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Toronto (UPAAT)

(CONFIDENTIAL)

PROXY

(1) Proxy Form is available from the UPAAT website, Yahoo Group or COMELEC.
(2) Proxy voting is allowed, provided the proxy and designator are eligible voters.
(3) An eligible member can act as a proxy to only one (1) eligible voter.
(4) Proxy Form must be duly signed, either by hand or typed onto the form, by the proxy and the designator,
respectively.
(5) Deadline for submission of Proxy Form is March 17, 2011.

VOTE COUNT

(1) Board of Canvassers, composed of COMELEC members plus 2 appointed members who are not
candidates, will immediately proceed to count the votes after the poll closes.
(2) Tallying of votes will be conducted in public.
(3) Canvassers will scrutinize every ballot and deposit the valid ballot in a designated box.
(4) If any canvasser disputes a ballot, it will be put aside for closer review later.
(5) Board of Canvassers will quickly review any disputed ballots and make an irrevocable decision to count
it or to void it completely.
(6) Voided ballots will be kept separately from the valid ballots.
(7) All ballots cast will be treated with strict confidentiality.
(8) Copying of ballots by any means and in any shape or form is strictly prohibited.
(9) COMELEC Chairman must certify the voting results.

ELECTED CANDIDATES

(1) The first 15 candidates receiving the highest number of votes will be declared as the newly elected
members of the Executive Council.
(2) In case of a tie for 15th place, it will be resolved by drawing of lots among all the 15th placers.
(3) If less than 15 Council members were elected, the new Executive Council may fill the remaining vacant
position(s) according to the UPAAT Constitution.
(4) Newly elected Executive Council members will serve for a term of 2 years.
(5) Information on duties and responsibilities of Council members is embodied in Article 7 of the UPAAT
Constitution.

ELECTION RECORDS

(1) After the official proclamation of the newly elected Executive Council, all Election materials (except
voters ballots cast) – i.e., nomination forms, supporting letters, proxy forms, authorization letters,
Election summary reports and other related Election materials – will be turned over by the COMELEC
Chairman to the new Council at the earliest opportunity.
(2) COMELEC will destroy permanently all ballots cast during the UPAAT Election 2011 as soon as
possible.
(3) After disposal and turnover of all Election materials, the COMELEC members and its appointees will be
discharged of all mandated election duties and responsibilities.

Date: February 21, 2011 Page 3