Election violations occur when a candidate breaks any of the election rules. If you see campaigns that violate any of the rules, please submit an elections violation report.

ARTICLE V – PENALTY POINT SYSTEM

SECTION ONE – RESPONSIBILITY

1. The Elections Coordinator shall be responsible for keeping track of all penalty points and sanctions assigned to candidates.

SECTION TWO – REGULATION

1. Offenses shall be categorized into three levels of severity, Level One, Level Two, and Level Three, representing low severity, medium severity, and high severity, respectively.
2. Each level of offense shall be listed with the according range of points that shall be assigned, at the discretion of the EVC, to a candidate if a violation occurs
   1. For violating a Level One offense, a range of 1 to 15 points shall be assigned at the discretion of the EVC. Level one offenses shall include:
      1. Violating posting policies
      2. Obstructing another candidate’s campaign literature with your own campaign literature
      3. Campaigning before the official start of the campaign period
      4. Exceeding the Limit on the Value of Campaign Materials
      5. Submitting candidacy past the deadline
   2. For violating a Level Two offense, a range of 16 to 30 points shall be assigned at the discretion of the EVC. Level Two offenses shall include:
      1. Failing to comply with sanctions enumerated in Article V §3
      2. Fraudulently using the likeness, image, or statement of another member of the University of Rochester without their consent
      3. Advertising on any official University of Rochester social media and/or sending any unsolicited mass emails/messages
   3. For violating a Level Three offense, a range of 31-50 points shall be assigned at the discretion of the EVC. Level Three offenses shall include:
      1. Deceiving the Elections Coordinator or any other member of the EVC in any way about the facts pertaining to the election
      2. Harassing another candidate in any way
      3. Engaging in any sort of quid pro quo as defined in Article I §1.H of this Policy and Procedure Manual
      4. Defacing or consenting to the defacement of another candidate’s campaign materials
      5. For having campaign materials that discriminate against another person.

SECTION THREE – SANCTIONS

1. The following sanctions shall be administered by the Elections Coordinator with the approval of the EVC:
   1. If a candidate accumulates 20-29 points, they will lose either physical campaigning ability or online campaigning ability for a period of time up to the discretion of the EVC
   2. If a candidate accumulates 30-39 points, they will lose physical campaigning ability and online campaigning ability for a period of time up to the discretion of the EVC
   3. If a candidate accumulates 40-49 points, they lose the ability to campaign entirely for the duration of the election
   4. If a candidate accumulates 50 or more points, they shall be disqualified from this election cycle
2. The Elections Coordinator, with consent of the EVC, reserves the right to administer sanctions outside of those listed above and may assign additional or reduced penalty points for a violation as they deem necessary. Reasons for assigning alternate penalty points include, but are not limited to:
   1. Repetition of a violation
   2. Egregiously violating
   3. Violating at the end of the campaign period such that the normal sanction applied would be inconsequential to the campaign
   4. Language Barriers
   5. Previous campaign or election experience
3. The Elections Coordinator, in conjunction with the EVC, reserves the right to administer sanctions and assign penalty points outside of those listed above and may assign penalty points on a case-by-case basis and by consulting past precedent

The Elections Coordinator, in conjunction with the EVC, reserves the right to waive sanctions or assign a lower amount of points than listed on a case-by-case basis.

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