About Elections DPS (Brief Overview, CEO & DCEO Profiles, Contact Information)

2012/13 Existence Referendum (Membership, Memorandum of Agreement, Electoral Procedures)

The Results 

Timeline (Referendum Schedule 2013)

Getting Involved (Submitting Additional Questions, Forming or Joining a “Yes” or “No” Committee)

Endorsements

How to Vote

Elections DPS is an independent and politically impartial agency. We administer elections and referenda and are responsible for maintaining the democratic process of decision-making for matters concerning the Daily Publications Society. Elections DPS is here to ensure that elections are conducted legitimately, within the scope of the electoral by-laws, and that this process is open and transparent.

The elections teams consists of two individuals: the Chief Electoral Officer and the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer.

Faraz Alidina, Chief Electoral Officer

Faraz is an undergraduate Arts student studying Middle East Studies and Political Science. He has worked at Elections SSMU, currently serves as an Editor to the McGill International Review and is on the Executive Team of the WATW Conference on Economic Development. An avid traveller, Faraz has visited parts of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa and worked in a Tanzanian law firm for a summer. E-mail him at elections@dailypublications.org or stop by during office hours (see below).

William Stephenson, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer

Before beginning McGill’s law program this fall, William Stephenson obtained his BA in Classics from the University of Ottawa in 2010 and completed a year of law school at the University of Virginia. He was a board member of The Fulcrum, the University of Ottawa’s English language newspaper. Last summer he drafted new bylaws and proposed corporate policy amendments for Causeway Work Centre in Ottawa

Contact Us

Feel free to e-mail us at elections@dailypublications.org or visit us during our office hours. For the month of January 2013, they are as follows:

• January 10: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Redpath Library RM-07G
• January 17: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Redpath Library RM-07G
• January 24: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Redpath Library RM-07G

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As a downtown undergraduate or post-graduate student, you are automatically a member of the Daily Publications Society (DPS), and as such, pay a non-opt-outable fee of $6.00 per semester ($3.35 for graduate students) with the exception of non-residents, Graduate Medical and Graduate Dentistry students who are not members. The membership of the DPS is approximately 28,000 which in fact exceeds SSMU’s 24,000 membership figure.

Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)

The DPS negotiates its MoA (Memorandum of Agreement) with McGill University independently and collects fees directly from McGill University and not via another student organization. The MoA governs the relationship between the DPS and McGill University; it outlines provisions concerning the use of office space, the use of the “McGill” name, campus distribution privileges, the fee schedule and other administrative matters. This MoA expires every 5 years and triggers an existence referendum aimed at measuring student support for the DPS. The result of this referendum will govern McGill University’s decision to renew its MoA with the DPS. A majority “No” vote would result in the non-renewal of the MoA and a termination of all DPS student-fees. The McGill Daily/Le Délit would cease to exist at McGill. A majority “Yes” vote would result in the renewal of the MoA with the same fee-schedule for an additional five years. A “Yes” vote would maintain status-quo, allowing the McGill Daily/Le Délit to continue to exist at McGill.

Beyond a mere “Yes” or “No” result, this existence referendum also provides an excellent opportunity for the McGill student body to engage in healthy, open-minded political discourse about the state of our campus and student activities. Elections DPS is committed to ensuring that this campaign period will be an accessible, safe and well-regulated channel for individuals to voice their opinions and beliefs.

Electoral Procedures

Elections DPS, along with administering referenda and elections, is also tasked with interpreting the by-laws in accordance with the Constitution and the spirit, or original intent, of the law.

The Electoral Bylaws can be found here, the Constitution can be found here. If you have any questions about electoral procedures, interpretation or meaning, please feel free to direct your questions to elections@dailypublications.org

The text of the referendum question, as it will appear on the ballot, can be found here:

McGill Daily-Le Delit Existence Referendum Question

Yes Committee Information

Yes Committee Pensketch

Twitter: @ouidps

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/412977525444051/

Website: savethedaily.ca  sauvonsledelit.ca

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• Nomination Period for Member-Initiated Question(s): Nov 23, 2012 – Jan 10, 2013
• Period for Formation of Yes/No Committee(s): Nov 23, 2012 – Jan 10, 2013
• Last Board Meeting for Notice of Motion for Board-Initiated Question(s): Jan 10, 2013
• Meeting for Committee Chairs: Jan 11, 2013
• Deadline for Approval of Referendum Question(s) Submitted: Jan 14, 2013

• Campaign Period: Jan 18, 2013, 9 a.m. – Jan 31, 2013, 5 p.m.
• Polling Period: Jan 23, 2013, 9 a.m. – Jan 31, 2013, 5 p.m.

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The mandatory existence referendum is also an opportunity for other matters to be discussed and voted on by the entire membership of the Society. A petition to initiate a referendum question requires signatures by 3% of Society members (873 total signatures). Additional guidelines can be found in the Student-Initiated Referendum Question Petition Package found here. It is highly advised to meet with the CEO, Faraz Alidina, before collecting signatures to review the proposed referendum question and to ensure that it does not contravene the regulations outlined in the Constitution and Bylaw 6.

Forming or Joining a “Yes” or “No” Committee

A referendum committee is very similar to a campaign committee for a regular election with the exception that it has no human candidate. Yes and No committees support a position, not a person. There may be only one Yes committee and one No committee. All other forms of campaigning are unsanctioned and undermine the democratic process. Both committees are each allotted a maximum budget of $300 which will be fully reimbursed once campaigning concludes.

Committees may be formed either through a Board motion or a petition which requires 100 Society signatures. The Student-Initiated Referendum Committee Petition Package can be found here.

If you are interested in joining an approved Yes or No committee, feel free to contact the Chair of the committee you are interested in joining directly, or contact elections@dailypublications.org and we can put you in touch with the appropriate Chair. There is no deadline for joining a committee; committees may add members on an on-going basis until campaigning concludes. Additional committee members must have their admission into a committee approved by Elections DPS before they may commence campaign activities. The approval is solely contingent on the individual being a current and paying member of the Daily Publications Society.

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Endorsements may be given only by external organizations or current members of the Daily Publications Society. Professors, alumni, eager parents, Concordia students etc. are requested to not issue endorsements and campaign committees are prohibited from soliciting non-Society individuals for endorsements. A comprehensive Guideline for Endorsements can be obtained by e-mailing elections@dailypublications.org

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Note: Despite being members of the PGSS, Graduate students, for this referendum, will have a ballot sent to them and will vote using Elections SSMU’s OVS.

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