Electoral Committee Guide

Composition

The minimum Committee consists of three distinct current members: Commissioner/Chairperson, Secretary, and ICT and Data Protection Commissioner. Add optional officers according to the association’s rules and risk. An Appeals Panel is optional in the software but may be required by governance.

Planning

Review the election type, nomination mode, timetable, verification methods, result-approval threshold, positions, register source, privacy controls, complaint route, contingency plan and communication schedule.

Register

Build and review the election-specific register. Resolve eligibility matters, certify it with a reference and avoid later changes. Where a change is authorised, recertify before opening.

Nominations and candidates

Apply the selected mode exactly. Complete every self-nomination decision, require photographs, synchronise approved candidate records, remove invalid Self-mode unlinked candidates, investigate Mixed-mode duplicates and publish the final list.

Readiness

Resolve all service errors. Confirm appointment letters, register digest, eligible voters, positions, photographs, candidate publication and configuration fingerprint. Run a witnessed mock election and record defects and corrections.

Poll operations

The Commissioner opens and closes voting. The Committee monitors availability, verification and incidents without observing choices. The ICT/Data Protection member protects credentials, logs, files and server access. The Secretary preserves minutes and references.

Results

Close voting, generate the tally, reconcile participation, record incidents, conduct a reasoned recount where authorised and obtain independent approvals. Publish and verify exports and declarations. Do not overwrite prior tally versions.

Disputes

Review election objections within the authorised roles. Officer complaints must go to the competent independent authority, and the accused officer is excluded. Apply remedies through controlled workflows.

Exceptional cancellation and invalidation

Only the currently appointed Commissioner may perform these terminal actions from Commissioner controls on the election dashboard. Cancellation is available from Draft, Nominations open, Ready to open and Voting open. Invalidation is available from Voting open, Voting closed, Tallying, Awaiting result approval and Results published.

Use cancellation where the authorised decision is that the election will not proceed or continue. Use invalidation where the process or outcome has been determined not to stand. Enter a formal reason of at least 20 characters. The system preserves the cycle, clears result publication, creates a resolved critical incident and writes an audit event. Once either terminal status is recorded, no second exceptional status is allowed. The Committee must preserve the governing resolution, minutes and communication required by the association’s rules.

Post-election

Verify audit ledger, preserve records, complete declarations and reports, revoke/expire access, test backups and apply retention only after all holds end.