1514.1 A Statement of Candidacy shall be considered valid if it satisfies all of the following conditions:
(a) the Statement of Candidacy is received by the election official on or before the date and time designated by the election official;(b) the Statement of Candidacy is on a form provided or authorized by the Board and all sections have been completed in legible font or print;(c) the Statement of Candidacy is filed by a person who is a qualified voter in the category for which the trustee election is being held ;(d) the Statement of Candidacy is accompanied by a valid Qualifications Statement; and(e) the Statement of Candidacy contains a signed oath and declaration.1514.2 A Qualifications Statement shall be considered valid if it satisfies all of the following conditions:
(a) The Qualifications Statement shall be submitted with the Statement of Candidacy form pursuant to Section 1512.2(b)(4) of these Rules; either typed or printed on the Statement of Candidacy form or on a separate blank sheet of paper.(b) The Qualifications Statement shall identify the eligible candidate and the qualified voter category for which the candidate is seeking election. The statement may also state the candidate's qualifications and experience, and outline his or her plans and goals if elected. (1) A Qualifications Statement shall not include an endorsement of any kind.(c) The Qualifications Statement shall not exceed two hundred and fifty (250) words in length. For purposes of this section, the following rules shall apply to the counting of words in a Qualifications Statement:(1) Punctuation is not counted;(2) Each word shall be counted as one (1) word, except as specified in this subsection;(3) All geographical names shall be considered as one (1) word; for example, "District of Columbia" shall be counted as one (1) word;(4) Each abbreviation of a word, phrase, or expression shall be counted as one (1) word;(5) Hyphenated words that appear in any generally available dictionary shall be considered as one (1) word. Each part of all other hyphenated words shall be counted as a separate word;(6) Dates consisting of a combination of words and digits shall be counted as two (2) words; for example, "December 31, 2017" shall be counted as two (2) words. Dates consisting of only a combination of digits shall be counted as one (1) word; for example, "12/31/2017" shall be counted as one (1) word; and(7) Any number consisting of a digit or digits shall be considered one (1) word. For example, any number which is spelled, such as "one," shall be considered as a separate word or words. "One" shall be counted as one (1) word whereas "one hundred" shall be counted as two (2) words. The number one hundred "100" expressed in digits shall be counted as one (1) word.1514.3 The election official shall exclude from print on the ballot or other election materials any portion of a Qualifications Statement that exceeds the maximum word limitation, is interpreted to be an endorsement, or that includes a statement that is false or misleading. The election official may, but is not required to, allow a candidate the opportunity to correct a false or misleading statement included within a Qualifications Statement.
1514.4 The election official may, but is not required to, provide acknowledgement of receipt of a prospective candidate's Statement of Candidacy.
1514.5 Upon receipt of Statement of Candidacy forms, the election official shall determine whether the statements are valid. The election official shall document how the eligibility or ineligibility of each candidate was determined and provide a report, including each candidate's Statement of Candidacy form, to the Executive Director no later than three (3) days after the date Statements of Candidacy are due to the election official.
1514.6 The determination by the election official of the validity of Statements of Candidacy, including Qualifications Statements, shall be final and only subject to further administrative review at the discretion of the Executive Director. A determination of eligibility or ineligibility shall be based solely on information contained in the Statements of Candidacy and upon information contained in other public records and documents available to the election official. The Executive Director may reverse a determination of eligibility at any point prior to the certification of election results based upon evidence that was not known to the election official at the time of the initial determination of eligibility or upon evidence of a change in circumstances.
1514.7 The election official shall provide notification to a prospective candidate of his or her ineligibility to stand for election no later than ten (10) days after the due date for the submission of Statement of Candidacy forms has passed and the statements have been validated.
(a) A prospective candidate who is ineligible for election because his or her Statement of Candidacy is rejected for reasons other than those outlined in Sections 1513.2 and 1514.1(a) of these Rules, may submit one (1) new or amended Statement of Candidacy, which must be received by the election official no later than five (5) days after the date his or her notice of deficiency was mailed.1514.8 Once all eligible candidates have been identified, a notification of eligibility, including a copy of the eligible candidate's Qualifications Statement, shall be provided to each eligible candidate no fewer than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled date of the drawing of lots to determine ballot position. The notification of eligibility shall include:
(a) The time, date, and location for drawing lots; and(b) Notification of the eligible candidate's sole opportunity to proofread and correct any transcription errors, such as spelling and grammatical errors, which may be included in the eligible candidate's Qualifications Statement, with instructions on how to make any such corrections.1514.9 A candidate may withdraw his or her candidacy only by written notice to the election official. A candidate is presumed to have withdrawn from the election if he or she fails to submit a new or amended Statement of Candidacy, upon request, pursuant to Section 1514.7(a) of these Rules. A withdrawal shall be irrevocable only for the election cycle in which it occurs. The election official shall inform the Executive Director of any withdrawals. Where a withdrawal impacts the accuracy of information included on the ballots, after ballots have been printed or made available to qualified voters, the election official shall provide notice to all qualified voters within the impacted qualified voter category as soon as administratively possible in accordance with Section 1511.6 of these Rules.
1514.10 If the election official determines that there are no prospective candidates eligible to stand for election, the election official shall:
(a) Terminate the election for which no candidate is eligible to be placed on the ballot;(b) Promptly prepare a new election schedule in substantial conformity with Section 1511.4 of these Rules;(c) Proceed, if applicable, with any other election of trustees with more than one eligible candidate; and(d) Conduct an election for the impacted qualified voter category in accordance with the new election schedule. A new election schedule required under this section may result in a delay in the start date of an elected trustee's term.
1514.11 Uncontested Election - One Eligible Candidate in a Category
(a) If an election official certifies that only one (1) eligible candidate exists in a qualified voter category, the election official shall:(1) Declare an uncontested election and discontinue the election process for the qualified voter category; and(2) Distribute a notice informing impacted qualified voters that they will not receive an election ballot due to an uncontested election and that the results of the uncontested election shall be certified with the election results of the other qualified voter categories included in the election cycle, in accordance with Section 1522 of these Rules.(b) If an election cycle does not include another qualified voter category for election, the Board shall proceed with certifying the results of the uncontested election in accordance with Section 1522 of these Rules.D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 7, r. 7-1514
Final Rulemaking published at 65 DCR 2951 (3/23/2018)