The filing period for ASI president and Board of Directors’ candidates starts Feb. 7 at 8 a.m. and ends on Feb. 25, 2022, at 4 p.m. Those interested in running for office must file a candidate packet on the ASI website during the designated filing period. Candidates who file during the three-week filing period will have their names on the ballot in the 2022–23 annual ASI Election.

You are considered a candidate in the 2022–23 ASI Elections after you have completed and submitted all the filing forms for candidacy. Once your forms are submitted, the Dean of Student’s Office will check your qualifications to serve and verify your eligibility to run.

All candidates must attend the Mandatory Candidates’ Meeting. The meeting welcomes candidates to the election process and to ASI. Expect to cover ASI candidate support, campaign financing, and other rules and regulations. Plus, candidates will hear from a current Student Government member and learn about the program, its corporate responsibilities, and the time expectations for each position.

Mandatory Candidate Meeting Dates:
• Mandatory Candidate Meeting—Board of Directors: Thursday, March 3, 2022
• Mandatory Candidate Meeting—President: Friday, March 4, 2022

Candidates who cannot attend this meeting must notify the Chair of the ASI Recruitment and Elections Committee—before the meeting—with the reason for their absence. It is the ASI Recruitment and Elections Committee’s discretion to allow a make-up session. Failure to attend without prior notification shall cause the candidate to be disqualified from the election.

Pre-Candidate: A pre-candidate is a student member who acts (whether written or oral) to seek election before or by the filing deadline as an officer or board member before the Dean of Students Office determines eligibility.

Candidate: A candidate is a student member who has filed a Candidate Packet by the submission deadline of Feb. 25, 2022, at 4 p.m. and under provisions found in the ASI Election Code. The Dean of Students Office shall decide the eligibility of any candidate for ASI office before putting their name on the ballot. For write-in candidates, eligibility shall be determined before the election results are announced.

Write-In Candidate: The term “Write-In Candidate” means a member who takes action to seek election as an officer or board member who has not filed a Candidate Packet within the candidacy deadline. Write-in candidates do not have their names listed on the official ballot; they are written in.

Candidate and diversity statements are your opportunity to share with Cal Poly students a brief history about yourself and why you are the best candidate for the position. Candidate and diversity statements will be published on the official ballot and the ASI website.

• Candidate statements must be submitted in paragraph form and cannot exceed 150 words
• Diversity statements must be submitted in paragraph form and cannot exceed 250 words

Statements exceeding the word maximum will be truncated to meet the requirement. Statements will be published as received; grammatical or spelling errors will not be corrected.

How to write a candidate and diversity statement:

1. Be authentic and share ways you can help and support the needs of the Student Body.
2. Use a word document to start to draft your thoughts and then paste into the candidate packet
3. Consider adding your year in school, major, extracurricular activities (club involvement) so the student body know more about you.
4. Stick to the prompt. Be precise in what you want to tell students. Doing this will make it easier to keep the statements separate and not repetitive.
5. Have a friend look over your statement for errors before submitting it.
6. Show students what you’re passionate about!

Candidates can begin campaigning when active campaigning opens on Sunday, Apr. 10, 2022, at 5 p.m. Campaigning can continue up until the election closes on Thursday, Apr. 21, 2022, at 9 a.m. Any active campaigning prior to Apr. 10, 2022, at 5 p.m. is considered a violation of the election code, which could be reported to the disciplinary subcommittee.

Active campaigning is any non-oral public display or distribution of specific information (physical or electronic) about any candidate, pre-candidate, or write-in candidate with the intent to influence the election of a candidate.

Active campaigning does not include statements recorded in an organization’s standard minutes or agendas, official ASI Recruitment and Elections Committee filing documents or forms, organizational meetings of campaign workers and managers, arrangements for campaign publicity, or the right of a candidate, pre-candidate, or write-in candidate to appear before any organized group prior to the beginning of active campaigning.

The term “non-oral,” refers to any communication of information that is not capable of being heard. Non-oral communications do not include communications made to media outlets when such communications are necessary to comply with the ASI Election Code.

The ASI Election Code governs all ASI elections including the annual spring election and special elections. The ASI Election Code’s policies and procedures promote the educational mission of the university, prevent violations of reasonable campus rules, avoid interference with the opportunity of other students to obtain an education, and minimize distractions from the university’s larger education mission.

To withdraw from candidacy, candidates MUST fill out a withdrawal form and submit it to the ASI Recruitment and Elections Chair at least 48 hours prior to election day. The withdrawal form is found in the forms and policies page of the ASI website. If a candidate withdraws, any votes cast for the candidate will be voided.