Election 2018
The procedure for electing the Speaker of Council involves three successive stages: nominations, endorsements and final voting. Each is organised electronically via the MyECPR function of the ECPR website. The three stages are as follows:
1. Nominations. From 2 April to 27 April 2018, any Official Representative from a Full Member institution shall be allowed to post his or her name on the ECPR website as a possible candidate for the position of Speaker of the ECPR Council. Nominations must come from the individuals themselves; no indirect nominations (e.g. by other individuals or Standing Groups) will be possible, though nominees may list in their accompanying statement any pre-endorsements from a Standing Group or other association. When making his or her nomination, the nominee will be allowed to add a statement of up to 500 words, covering basic biographical information, the motivation for standing for election, and any pre-endorsements. Nominees shall be listed in the order in which their nominations were posted on the website.
2. Endorsements. From 1 May to 25 May 2018, all Official Representatives of Full Member institutions will be asked to endorse a candidate for the final ballot, based on the following rules:
- Each OR may endorse one nominee.
- For inclusion on the final electoral ballot, a nominee must:
- receive at least five endorsements;
- have endorsements from ORs in at least two countries; and
- have endorsements from ORs of both sexes.
- Endorsements will be public.
Note: If at the conclusion of either the nomination or endorsement period, an insufficient number of candidates are moved forward, the Senior Returning Officer shall have the right to extend the period for nomination and/or endorsement, and to postpone the voting period, in order to ensure that enough candidates are on the ballot. Nominees or candidates may also withdraw their names at any time before the final voting by sending a message to the Senior Returning Officer Elisabeth Carter, Keele University c/o ECPR.
3. Final voting. Once the final ballot of candidates has been determined, all Official Representatives of Full Member institutions will be asked to vote for their preferred candidates. The voting period is from 1 June to 29 June 2018. The Alternative Vote electoral system shall be used. ORs will be asked to rank-order their preferred candidates. The minimum number of candidates to be rank-ordered for a vote to be valid is one. There is no maximum to the number of candidates that may be rank-ordered. Pursuant to the AV-method, preference votes will be tallied and transferred until a candidate receives an absolute majority (50% + one vote) of the valid votes. The announcement of the election result will be made on 5 July 2018.
