Elections Policies & Procedures (EPP)

Section 1

This section defines important and specific terms that appear repeatedly throughout the EPP, including election-specific vocabulary, such as “Ballot Measure”, “Fair Market Value“, “The HUB”, and 14 other terms, all of which are located on pages 3 and 4 of the 2026 Elections Policies & Procedures. This section also includes notable dates and deadlines for various events, including the ASUW Elections Info Forum, the voting period, and the Election Results Public Announcement. Please refer to pages 4 and 5 of the EPP for the full list. This section also states dates, times, and locations of meetings with Delineated Committees of the ASUW during Autumn 2025 (the information is subject to change). The committees and officers that are listed include the President from the Board of Directors, the Senate Speaker from the Student Senate, and the Director of Personnel from the Personnel Committee, etc. Please refer to pages 5 and 6 for the complete list. 

Section 2

The Fair Campaign Practices Statement is a non-binding statement that lists moral standards that candidates of the ASUW election are encouraged to comply with. Candidates should condemn discriminatory actions and should conduct fair and equal campaigns with honesty and sincerity. They should not participate in immoral actions that negatively affect the election, such as attacking opposing candidates with defamation, distorting facts, and personal vilification. Additionally, candidates should refrain from engaging in an unfair election by seeking unfair votes and official endorsements through using connections as an officer of any RSOs, etc. Candidates should respect the privacy of the election process and comply with the ASUW Constitution and the ASUW Bylaws. 

Section 3

Candidates must be an ASUW member and an undergraduate student with 6+ credit hours or a graduate student with 4+ credit hours while maintaining a cumulative GPA of 2.0 to be eligible. Both candidates and those registering as a Ballot Measure Advocate should visit vote.asuw.org/filing for information on submitting required documents and forms. Candidates should have a designated SAO staff member verify documents such as the Preliminary Financial Disclosure Form and the Official Filing Form, which contains an indication and declaration that the candidate wants to seek election to an office, in addition to an academic transcript with an indication of full-time status, and an agreement to comply with the EPP. Campaign statements are capped at 200 words, and candidates can list up to five qualifications that they want listed in the ASUW voters’ Guide. 

Section 4

While candidates can choose to collaborate in campaigns, the EAC and ASUW will not formally recognize them as “tickets” in official publications such as the ballot and voters’ guide. All campaign expenditures made as a group must be clearly reported for transparency. 

Section 5

Endorsements are public statements or actions by an individual or group that support a candidate or ballot measure and require an official endorsement form to be filed with the EAC. Candidates and ballot measure advocates may not seek endorsements before the campaign’s start date and may not claim endorsements without consent, which is assumed not to exist unless officially documented. For endorsements from RSOs or university-recognized student groups to appear in official materials or on the EAC website, they must be properly registered with required officer signatures and verification. ASUW employees and entities may not endorse their official capacity or use ASUW resources for campaigning, and violations of this rule are considered major violations. All official endorsements are listed on the EAC website but not in the Voters’ Guide, though groups and candidates may promote them independently. RSOs may submit, change, or retract endorsements up until the Friday before the election, and while they are not required to promote all candidates, any promotional materials created require financial transparency filings from the endorsed candidate to avoid a major violation. 

Section 6

Campaigning may not begin until the EAC confirms the eligibility of candidates and ballot measures. Campaigning includes any public activity intended to promote or oppose a ballot measure or candidate, such as distributing flyers, addressing crowds, displaying signs, or distributing campaign apparel before the campaign’s start date. Campaigning does not include wearing personal campaign apparel or privately organizing and planning a campaign, including recruiting volunteers in private settings. Candidates are responsible for registering their affiliates with the EAC. Candidates, affiliates, and ballot measure advocates may not campaign while acting in an official ASUW capacity. They also cannot campaign in restricted locations and events such as ASUW and GPSS offices, or ASUW-sponsored events, except for authorized election forums. All campaign activity must follow applicable university, local, state, and federal policies, and official printed campaign advertisements must be submitted to the Campaign Advertisement Registry 24 hours after creation, with failure to do so considered a major violation.

Section 7

The EAC sponsors at least one candidate and ballot measure forum at the ASUW Student Senate and any additional public forums deemed necessary. Attendance at forums is mandatory for candidates unless excused in advance by an EAC Co-Chair. The EAC may co-sponsor forums with RSOs or university-recognized student groups if the event is open to all students, treats all candidates and ballot measures equally, does not include endorsements prior to or during the forum, and follows EAC guidelines for forum structure and scheduling. All official forums take place during the campaigning period and are promoted on the EAC website. The EAC also conducts elections information seminars and an Elections Ethics Seminar, which cover topics such as Board of Directors responsibilities, ASUW history, key dates, filing procedures, financial disclosures, campaign rules, complaints and violations, and training for Elections Ambassadors.

Section 8

Polling is conducted through online voting, and the first candidate for a position to receive over fifty percent of the vote will be elected to the position. EAC will operate information booths based on accessibility criteria, with polling and complaint process information at each location. This section also includes marketing information, as well as campaigning rules for the candidates. Some rules candidates must follow when campaigning is they cannot campaign within 100 feet of any EAC balloting area, tamper with election materials, or offer bribes. 

Section 9

Candidates and ballot measure advocates must file an up to date and accurate statement of all campaign expenditures. Campaign expenditures include the total amount expended while campaigning by the ballot measure advocate, candidate, and their affiliates. Candidates may promote or oppose ballot measures as part of their campaign, but any expenditure for such purpose is the expenditure of the candidate. This section outlines the campaign spending limit, which is no individual ballot measure advocate may have campaign expenditures over $60, but candidates are allowed to spend $150 and are responsible for disclosing any shared expenditures.  

Section 10

Violations are punished by community service or disqualification, and this section includes what qualifies as minor, major, or severe. Violations deemed minor, require a mandatory penalty of no less than 1 hour but not exceeding 3 hours of community service. Major violations have a mandatory penalty of no less than 3 hours but not exceeding 8 hours of community service and can constitute grounds for disqualification. Violations deemed severe have a mandatory penalty of no less than 8 hours but not exceeding 12 hours of community service and mandatory default disqualification. In all instances, the actions of a candidate’s affiliates constitute the action of the candidate, and the actions of a ballot measure advocate’s affiliates constitute the action of the ballot measure advocate. 

Section 11

Only UW students, faculty, or staff may file a complaint. Violations can be alleged against the EAC, an entity of ASUW, a candidate/campaign manager, a ballot measure advocate, the SAO, or any UW student. Complaints must be submitted online or in person via the method described on vote.asuw.org to the designated SAO Advisor and the Secretary of Judgements and confirmed online or in writing by the complainant with the Judicial Committee Secretary of Judgements before the Complaint Deadline. Complaints that fail to comply with the procedures of this Section may be dismissed by the Judicial Committee at the time of the complaints hearing, even if such dismissal is not requested by either party. 

Section 12

This section covers the procedures necessary for candidates to withdraw from the election and have their names removed from the ballot. Candidates must show willingness to withdraw and must submit a signed written statement or two signed emails that the EAC has on file two business days before the date of the first day of elections. Any withdrawal statements submitted after this time frame will not be accepted, but candidates may choose to resign from the position if elected. The name of the candidate who withdrew must be removed from the online ballot and posted at polling places to indicate their withdrawal. Candidates who do not formally withdraw through the outlined procedure are still expected to file any required documents within the filing deadlines. Failing to do so could result in a filed complaint against them. 

Section 13

This section outlines details for the special elections. The voting period for special elections lasts 3 days, from 12:01 am on day one to 11:45 pm on the last day. Special elections are to be well advertised and require the minimum marketing elements of social media promotion of educating students on ASUW and the elections; printed ads in buildings on campus; RSO presentations; and advisor, RSO, and entity email list servers. The EAC has authority to establish the structure of special elections, operating a minimum of two information booths, for a minimum of 4 hours per day, on campus per day of voting. Additionally, the EAC is required to hold a minimum of one public forum at least one week before the first day of voting.