Updated: Feb. 11, 2021 at 2:15 p.m.
The Student Association election will take place March 24 and 25, the Joint Elections Commission announced Tuesday.
The JEC – the body that oversees SA elections – released a statement saying students can register to run for president, executive vice president or senator between Feb. 24 and March 3, and eligible candidates can campaign beginning March 4. JEC commissioners will announce election results on March 25 via Facebook Live, an advisory states.
The presidential and executive vice presidential debates will also take place March 22 via Zoom, the release states.
In light of the virtual spring semester, the JEC is modifying the election through several measures, like suspending the annual postering day event and suspending in-person campaigning on GW-affiliated grounds. Candidates cannot campaign in any classroom environment, including Zoom, Blackboard Collaborate and WebEx, but the use of previously made group chats on platforms like GroupMe does not violate campaigning rules as long as they don’t “disrupt” academic affairs, an advisory states.
The JEC also require that candidates create a social media account separate from their personal platforms that serves as the primary means of communication with constituents. The new account will help the JEC monitor all campaign activities, according to an advisory.
Candidates will not be required to receive approval from the JEC to release virtual campaign material for the election, but the JEC reserves the right to tell candidates to remove a social media post if it violates SA bylaws. Candidates are limited to sending two messages to constituents if the recipient does not communicate back with a candidate, the JEC release states.
Per updates included in the SA’s revised constitution, senate seats in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and the School of Media and Public Affairs are on the docket for the election.
Undergraduates in Corcoran and SMPA running for a senate seat will have the option to run for either a Columbian College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate seat or for the seat of their specific school. Undergraduates in both Corcoran and SMPA will also be able to vote for a CCAS undergraduate seat and a seat to their specific school.
Graduate students in the Corcoran or SMPA will only be allowed to vote or run for CCAS graduate seats. All students enrolled in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration may run for either CCAS or Trachtenberg but will be eligible to vote for both seats.
This post was updated to clarify the following:
A previous version of this story stated that undergraduates in CCAS and SMPA could vote for a senator running for a CCAS or SMPA seat. CCAS and SMPA undergraduates can vote for a senator running for both CCAS and SMPA.
