Three elected student officers manage chapter activities and serve as representatives for the organization: the student president, the student vice president, and the student chief communications officer. These officers are also voting members of the Board of Directors. A detailed description of student officer roles can be found here.
Running for an Elected Office
Student-members from any ILSA Chapter may run for an elected office. A student may declare his or her candidacy in one of two ways:
- Submit a Declaration of Candidacy Form and a Statement of Intent to the ILSA Executive Office by April 1, 2008. The Declaration of Candidacy Form can be found here. The Statement of Intent is written by the student-candidate and describes his background, affiliation with ILSA, and reasons for running for an elected office. There is no set format for the Statement of Intent.
- Be nominated by another student at the ILSA Spring Congress meeting April 12, 2008 in Washington D.C. Candidates entering the race in this fashion must bring multiple copies of a typed Statement of Intent to the Spring Congress meeting. The Statement of Intent will be distributed to all Chapters present at the meeting.
All ILSA Chapters and individual members may vote at the Student Officer Elections. Voting will take place at the Spring Congress meeting Saturday, April 12. All Chapters who are at the ILSA Spring Conference or Jessup Competition should try to attend the Congress and vote, as the elected student officers will represent all ILSA members at Board Meetings and at international law events.
Campaigning for Office
Student-candidates must conduct their campaigns according to the following rules:
- A candidate may campaign for him or herself only at the Spring Conference meeting April 12 beginning at 12:00 pm, and not before.
- Posters, flyers, buttons and all other election propaganda are prohibited.
- Candidates may not campaign by sending ILSA members emails, mailings, or any by making other postings online or otherwise.
- The current student officers may not actively support or campaign for a candidate. HOWEVER, current student officers seeking reelection or election to a different officer may campaign for themselves.
Voting Procedures
The following rules will be observed during the voting process:
- Chapters may vote one time for each student officer position. Voting is conducted by secret ballot.
- Chapter votes are cast by the Chapter President. If the Chapter President does not attend the Spring Congress meeting, the President must sign a statement granting voting powers to a named individual who is also a member of the Chapter. This signed statement must be submitted to the current student chief communications officer, Niki Dasarathy, before voting begins (cco@ilsa.org).
- Voting by absentee ballots is allowed and should be emailed to the current ILSA student president, Rob Magouirk (president@ilsa.org) by 9:00am on April 12. Ballots should clearly denote which candidates are being voted for, and votes may be cast for a person who is not yet a declared candidate. However, if that person is not nominated at the Congress meeting, the vote will not be counted.
If you have any questions about student officer elections, please email ilsa@ilsa.org.