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ELECTION REGULATIONS
OF THE FACULTY SENATE OF THE FACULTY OF SOCIAL
STUDIES, MASARYK UNIVERSITY
(in the version effective from 2 June 2020)
Article 1
Introductory provisions
(1) These Election Regulations of the Faculty Senate of the Faculty of Social Studies,
Masaryk University (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”) are internal regulations of
the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University (hereinafter referred to as the “Faculty”)
within the meaning of Section 33 Subsection 2 (b) of Act No. 111/1998 Sb., on Higher
Education Institutions and on Amendments and Supplements to Other Acts (Higher
Education Act), as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).
(2) The Faculty Senate of the Faculty (hereinafter referred to as the “Senate”) is an
autonomous body of the Faculty in the sense Section 25 Subsection 1 (a) of the Act.
(3) In accordance with the Act and the Statute of the FSS MU, these Regulations regulate
the election of members of the Senate and related matters.
(4) For the purposes of these Regulations, the term “in writing” means sending by e-mail via
a University or Faculty e-mail account to the e-mail address of the Senate Electoral
Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Electoral Committee”).
Article 2
Electoral law and constituencies
(1) Each member of the academic community of the Faculty has the right to vote and to be
elected in the election of members of the Senate (hereinafter referred to as “Elections”). The
right to vote cannot be deputized.
(2) For the purposes of elections, the academic community of the Faculty is divided into the
following constituencies:
a) constituency of academic staff,
b) constituency of students.
(3) A member of the academic community of the Faculty exercises their right to vote within
the constituency to which they belong.
(4) An academic staff member who is also a student belongs to the constituency of
academic staff, unless they decide to belong to the constituency of students. This decision
will be made either when submitting their candidacy or in the application of the server of the
Masaryk University Information System (hereinafter referred to as “MU IS”) E-election
(hereinafter referred to as the “application”) during actual voting.
Article 3
Types of elections, method of elections, and conducting an
election campaign
(1) Elections are:
a) ordinary, held for the purpose of filling seats in the Senate that are expiring at the end
of a Senate term of office, or
b) supplementary, held for the purpose of filling mandates which are otherwise expiring.
(2) Elections are secret, direct, and equal within constituencies.
(3) They are held electronically via the application.
(4) A voter has as many votes as there are seats to be filled in a given constituency.
(5) Pre-election assemblies may be held at the Faculty with all candidates, or in support of
individual candidates.
(6) In this context, the Electoral Committee shall ensure that equal conditions for managing
electoral campaigns are maintained.
(7) Interim election results shall not be published.
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Article 4
Announcement of elections
(1) The Senate shall announce elections in the relevant constituency:
a) at least 60 days before the end of the Senate term of office,
b) if the term of office of a member of the Senate has become vacant, or
c) if it is known that a vacancy will occur.
Supplementary elections pursuant to Article 3 Clause 1 (b) shall be declared by the
Senate only if, in the relevant case, a substitute is not elected to the given senate or
the appointment has been rejected. If a seat has been vacated during the last six
months of the electoral term, the Senate may decide that supplementary elections
need not be held in this case. The provisions on elections shall apply mutatis mutandis
to supplementary elections.
(2) The following must be stated in the decision to announce elections:
a) an indication of the constituency in which the elections will take place,
b) the number of seats to be filled by the election,
c) the composition of the Electoral Committee with the designation of the Chair of the
Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Chair”),
d) the date and time of the deadline for the nomination of candidates, where the
nomination period may not be fewer than 7 days, and the name of the person
designated by the Chair to receive the nominations,
e) the date and time of the beginning and end of the elections, which are set so that the
beginning occurs at the earliest 14 and at most 60 days from the announcement of the
election, and ends at least 72 hours after the beginning, and so that elections take
place exclusively on working days outside academic holidays,
f) the address of the folder in the MU IS Document Server in which the candidacy
notification is to be stored.
(3) The decision to announce the election shall be published without delay in the public part of
the Internet of the Faculty website, and the academic community will become acquainted with
this fact.
Article 5
Electoral Committee
(1) The Electoral Committee manages the conduct of elections and supervises their course.
Its composition shall be determined by the Senate as soon as possible after the Senate’s
inaugural meeting in the given election period, so that it consists of five members of the
academic community of the Faculty, of whom at least two are students.
(2) The Electoral Committee elects and removes the Chair from among its members, and
the Chair shall convene and direct the meetings of the committee and shall take, or
delegate the taking of, minutes of the course and the result of each meeting.
(3) The Electoral Committee constitutes a quorum in the presence of at least three of its
members. The approval of at least three members of the committee is required for the
approval of each resolution.
(4) The mandate of the previous committee ends with the appointment of a new committee.
(5) Membership in the Electoral Committee is incompatible with candidacy in the election of
members of the senate. If a member decides to stand as a candidate in the election, their
membership in the committee shall expire.
(6) Membership is also terminated by resignation, removal from office, or together with the
termination of membership in the relevant constituency.
(7) If the number of members of the Electoral Committee drops to fewer than three
members, the Committee must be supplemented immediately. In such case, if there is a
risk of delay, the Chair of the Senate may also appoint members.
Article 6
Candidates
(1) A member of the relevant constituency may stand as candidate.
(2) A written notice of candidacy must be delivered to the Electoral Committee no later than
the date specified in the schedule. The candidate may attach their election programme,
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which will be made available in the application. The Chair or authorized member of the
committee shall confirm the acceptance of the candidacy.
(3) The announcement of the candidacy is also stored at the relevant address in the MU IS,
which is notified in the announcement of the election.
(4) The notice of candidacy shall state the
a) designation of the constituency in which the election takes place,
b) surname, first name and university identification number (UČO) of the proposed
person,
c) date of the submission of the proposal.
Article 7
Discussion of proposals and registration of candidates
(1) Immediately after the deadline for the nomination of candidates the Electoral
Committee shall discuss all timely nominations of candidates.
(2) A proposal is accepted if it meets the conditions under Article 2 and Article 6. The
decision not to accept a proposal must be explicitly stated in the minutes of the
Electoral Committee meeting and shall be communicated to the relevant person
without delay.
(3) After discussing the proposals of candidates, the Electoral Committee shall
immediately publish the list of candidates, supplemented by information on the time
during which voters may vote using the application. Publication shall mean sending
out information by e-mail or making it available in the public part of the Faculty
website.
Article 8
Resignation
(1) A candidate may withdraw their candidacy by written notice to the e-mail address of the
Electoral Committee. The Electoral Committee shall immediately publish this fact in the
public part of the Faculty website.
(2) A declaration of resignation may not be withdrawn.
(3) When determining the results of elections, votes cast for a person who resigned shall not
be taken into account.
Article 9
Determination and publication of election results
(1) No later than the next working day after the last day of the elections, the Electoral
Committee shall ascertain the results of the elections in the relevant constituency using
the application.
(2) In neither of the constituencies is there a mandatory minimum turnout.
(3) The candidates with the highest number of votes in their constituency shall be elected.
(4) The substitutes in each constituency are the two unelected candidates with the highest
number of votes.
(5) A substitute shall be deemed elected at the moment of the next termination of mandate in
the relevant constituency. The status of a substitute lasts only until the next termination of
a mandate in the Senate.
(6) If there is an equal number of votes in the order decisive for the election of members or
appointment of substitutes, the Electoral Committee shall determine the order by lot.
(7) The Electoral Committee shall immediately publish the result of the elections in a manner
enabling remote access. Information on the results of the vote shall include:
a) the number of members of the academic community of the Faculty entitled to vote
in the relevant electoral constituency,
b) the number of members of the academic community of the Faculty who exercised
the right to vote in the relevant constituency,
c) the order of candidates and the number of votes cast for each candidate,
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d) the time when the result was published.
(8) The unofficial result of an election may be accessible to the public via the application or
by publishing it in the public part of the Faculty website immediately after the end of the
voting.
(9) The result of the elections shall enter into force after the expiration of the time limit for
filing complaints and, where complaints were filed, after their settlement.
Article 10
Complaints
(1) Members of the academic community have the right to file complaints on an ongoing
basis to the Electoral Committee regarding the course and outcome of the elections.
(2) The deadline for filing complaints ends 72 hours after the publication of the result by
the Electoral Committee pursuant to Article 9 Clause 7.
(3) The complaint must be in writing and the reasons must be stated in it.
(4) Complaints and decisions of the Electoral Committee concerning them must be
immediately published in the public part of the Faculty website.
(5) The Electoral Committee shall assess a complaint about the elections within three
working days from the day of its receipt. The decision on a complaint shall be annexed to
the minutes of the election.
(6) An appeal against a decision on a complaint shall be filed with the Senate. This appeal
has no suspensive effect.
Article 11
Re-election
(1) Elections or a part thereof shall be repeated if there has been a serious violation of the
principles and regulations of the elections which could have affected the election results
with regard to elected members. If such misconduct relates to the order of substitutes,
those substitutes from the place (inclusively) in the order to which the misconduct relates
shall not be elected.
(2) The Electoral Committee shall decide on re-elections or a part thereof.
(3) The provisions on elections shall apply mutatis mutandis to repeated elections.
Article 12
Mandate of a member of the Senate
(1) The mandate of a member of the Senate arises on the
a) date their election enters into force in accordance with Article 9, Clause 9, provided
the elected mandate is already vacant on such date, or
b) day following the date of the vacancy of the elected mandate.
If the dates of termination of simultaneously elected seats in the same constituency
are different, the seats shall be filled successively in accordance with the order
referred to in Article 9.
(2) The mandate of a member of the Senate shall expire
a) by termination of membership in the academic community of the Faculty, or
termination of their affiliation to the constituency in which they were elected,
b) after the expiration of the regular term of office of the Senate,
c) at the moment of incompatibility of functions according to the law and the MU FSS
Statute,
d) by resignation under Article 15.
Article 13
Retention of membership upon entering follow-up studies
(1) Membership in the Senate shall not expire in the case of a member of the student
chamber who duly completes their studies in the degree programmes carried out by the
Faculty during their term of office but who is then admitted to another, immediately follow-up
study programme carried out by the Faculty.
(2) If a student senator notifies the Chair of the Senate within 7 days of the due completion
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of studies that they intend to study and be enrolled at the Faculty, the exercise of rights and
obligations associated with the senator’s mandate will be returned to them on the day
following the day of enrolment. The period between the end of studies and enrolment in
studies may not exceed 4 months; otherwise, the mandate of the senator shall expire. On
the day of the senator’s graduation, a substitute is called upon to temporarily perform the
function of a senator. In the absence of such a substitute, supplementary elections shall be
held only after the expiry of the four-month period, unless the rights and obligations
associated with the senator’s mandate have been restored.
(3) However, membership in the Senate shall end on the day when a person continuing in
the original term of office of member of the Senate had set a deadline for enrolment in the
follow-up degree programme referred to in Clause 1, but did not enrol.
Article 14
Calling up a substitute
(1) A substitute shall be called up by the Chair of the Committee or an authorized member.
(2) A substitute may refuse in writing to be called up.
(3) A substitute shall hold office only for the remainder of the relevant term of office.
(4) A substitute appointed in accordance with Article 13 Clause 2 shall hold office only for the
period referred to in Article 13 Clause 2. If, after this period, the exercise of rights and
obligations associated with membership is not returned to the original holder in the
Senate, the provisions of Article 14 Clause 3 shall apply to this substitute.
Article 15
Resignation
(1) A member of the Senate may resign their mandate
a) by an oral statement made at a session of the Senate; or
b) by a written declaration delivered to the Chair of the Senate.
(2) The Chair of the Senate shall confirm the acceptance of a declaration.
(3) A declaration on the resignation of a mandate of a member of the Senate may not be
withdrawn; it shall take effect on the day following that on which
a) the session of the Senate was held in respect of the declaration referred to in Clause
1 a); and,
b) it was accepted by the Chair of the Senate in respect of the declaration referred to in
Clause 1 b).
Article 16
Documentation of elections and membership in the Senate
(1) Documentation relating to elections (announcements, candidacies, lists of
candidates, record of the result determined from the application) shall be archived.
(2) The Chair of the Senate keeps a list of members.
Article 17
Transitional and final provisions
(1) The Electoral Committee pursuant to Article 5 is a constituency Electoral Committee
within the meaning of the Election Regulations of the MU Academic Senate.
(2) The Election Regulations of the Faculty Senate of the Faculty of Social Studies,
Masaryk University in Brno of 16 May 2017, approved by the Masaryk University
Academic Senate on 5 June 2017, are repealed.
(3) Pursuant to Section 27 Subsection 1 (b) of the Act, these Regulations were approved
by the Senate on 30 April 2020 and submitted to the University Senate for approval.
(4) Pursuant to Section 9 Subsection 1 (b) of the Act, these Regulations were approved
by the Senate of the University on 1 June 2020.
(5) These Regulations shall enter into effect on the day of their publication in the public
part of the Faculty website.
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prof. PhDr.
Stanislav
Balík Ph.D.
Digitally signed by prof.
PhDr. Stanislav Balík
Ph.D. Date: 2 June 2020
11:44:47 +02'00'
prof. PhDr. Stanislav Balík, Ph.D.
Dean of the Faculty
Czech version of the contract is legally binding.