DepEd SPG/SSG COMELEC Standard Election Code for School Year 2021-2022

The Department of Education (DepEd) issues the Interim Guidelines on the Conduct of SPG/SSG Elections for School Year 2021-2022 Under the New Normal that will be implemented nationwide by public elementary and secondary schools for the said school year.

Attached herewith is Enclosure No. 5 of the Interim Guidelines on Student Government Elections for School Year 2021-2022 Under the New Normal – SPG/SSG Comelec Standard Election Code for School Year 2021-2022

Additional Guidelines to The Revised Supreme Pupil Government and Supreme Student Government Commission On Elections Standard Election Code and Commission on Appointments (For School Year 2021 – 2022)

PART I STANDARD ELECTION CODE

The SPG/SSG COMELEC shall be the only agency that will manage the electoral process, including the campaign and accreditation of student political parties.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC, shall be established within 21 days before the day of the election. This is to ensure the fair and honest elections prior to the exercising of rights of every learner in each school.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC members shall have the following qualifications, provided it is supported with a Declaration of Absence of Conflict of Interest (see Enclosure):

1. must be non-partisan;
2. do not have a vested interested in the election; and
3. not in any way related to any of the candidates by 3rd of consanguinity and affinity.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC this school year shall consist of teachers who are not handling any class advisory.

For SPG, it shall consist of three (3) members per grade level (Grades 4,5 and 6)

For SSG, it shall consist of four (4) members per grade level

• For Stand-alone Junior High School (Grades 7,8,9 and 10).
• For Integrated High School (Grades 7,8,9,10,11 and 12).
• For Stand-alone Senior High School (Grades 11 and 12).

The SPG/SSG COMELEC members shall be recommended by the current SPG/SSG Adviser and approved by the School Head.

The members of the SPG/SSG COMELEC shall select a Chairperson among its members.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC shall have the following duties and responsibilities:

• conduct fair, honest, and systematic elections;
• adhere to the Standard SPG/SSG Election code;
• validate the electoral proceedings and results;
• accept or revoke candidacy;
• proclaim the new set of officers;
• keep all pertinent election papers/documents;
• decide on protests relative to the conduct and results of elections;
• prepare and distribute the necessary election paraphernalia, certificate of candidacy forms, and other election-related materials before, during, and after the election; and,
• disqualify candidates who have violated any of the guidelines, which have been promulgated.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC Chair shall determine the conduct of manual or virtual elections in classroom and school level elections.

The conduct of whether virtual or manual elections for both classroom and school level elections depend on the preference of all the learners involved. To determine the modality to be used, the Classroom Adviser shall conduct a survey prior to the Announcement of Elections to his or her learners. All learners (100 %) shall agree to which modality they prefer. If there is one or more learners who happen to be of different preference, manual elections will be automatically implemented. This shall also be approved by the COMELEC, School Head, and endorsed to the Division’s Youth Formation Coordinator.

For small schools with one or limited number of sections per grade level:

• In case there is only one or limited number of sections in a specific grade level (for grade level qualifications), the COMELEC may allow multiple learners from the same section to run for specific positions.
• In case there are limited number of sections in a specific grade level (for grade level qualifications), the COMELEC may allow to lower the grade level qualifications to accommodate SPG/SSG candidates.

For large and mega schools with numerous numbers of section per grade level:

• In case there are numerous numbers of section per grade level, the COMELEC shall conduct grade level elections first and select the grade level’s representatives for the SPG/SSG elections. See attached Enclosure No. 3 for the conduct of Grade Level Elections.
• There shall only be 7 elected representatives per each grade level, and they will be the sole representatives of each grade level to the SPG/SSG elections.
• In case there is a small number of students who show interest to run in a large or mega school in all grade levels, the COMELEC Adviser shall opt not to conduct Grade Level Elections and shall directly proceed to SPG/SSG Elections or Appointment of SPG/SSG Officers.
• The COMELEC shall determine the conduct of Grade Level Elections this school year.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC shall opt to utilize social media platforms to reach and engage more learners regardless of the modality of school elections to be utilized on the election activities. (Example: Virtual Orientation, campaign, etc.,). It can also create additional activities related to the conduct of the elections, if these are approved by the School Head.

• The COMELEC Chairperson shall create a Private Facebook Group, following the group name pattern below. School ID_School Name_2021 SPG/SPG Elections / Example: 105689_Sto. Cristo Elementary School_2021 SPG Elections
• The created private Facebook Group shall serve as the official group of SPG/SSG elections. No personal campaigning will be done per each candidate as the COMELEC will be the only one to post on the said Facebook Group using this year’s election paraphernalia.
• The private Facebook group shall consist of the following people: Admin: COMELEC Chairperson Moderator: Current SPG/SSG Adviser MEMBERS: Guidance Counselor/Guidance Coordinator and all Class Presidents and those who are involved in this year’s elections.
• The COMELEC Chairperson with the help of his or her members through the endorsement of Class Advisers shall add to the private Facebook Group the official candidates and all learners involved in the elections.
• The COMELEC shall make standardized posters/campaign materials per each candidate using the consolidated components of the election paraphernalia.
• All posted campaign materials will be automatically deleted before the SPG/SSG elections.

The SPG / SSG COMELEC Chair shall be responsible for the announcement of the school’s virtual dissemination of newly elected SPG/SSG officers this year.

The SPG/SSG COMELEC shall secure that the 50 % plus 1 rule applies on the number of casted votes per position. In case the count is not achieved, the COMELEC shall proclaim that the candidate with the highest number of votes wins the position.

PART II COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS

Appointment of SPG/SSG officers will only be applicable when the conduct of SPG/SSG elections seem to be difficult due to the following reasons:

Modular distance learning is implemented with long interval of school’s distribution and retrieval of modules

Schools are last-mile schools, and it will take a long time for them to conduct elections.

Modality of learning being implemented in the schools is only limited to Radio Based-Instruction and other modalities aside from Modular learning and Online Learning.

Not feasible conduct of elections (manual) because of existing IATF rules and regulations.

There is no one or there are limited number of students who show interest to run in the SPG/SSG elections.

• Appointment of SPG/SSG officers is in accordance with the number of vacant positions.
• The existing SPG/SSG officers shall be prioritized in the appointment of officers, considering that they have prior knowledge, skills, and attitude as student leaders.
• The specific interim guidelines from SPG/SSG Election Procedures (Composition, Election, Qualifications. And Term of Office of SPG/SSG) will be of use on the appointment. Downsizing of the said requirements to accommodate learners for appointment shall be done by the COMELEC, approved by the School Head, and endorsed to the Division Youth Formation Coordinator.
• The Commission of Appointments is composed of the following members who will act as members of the Selection Committee.
  • COMELEC Chairperson
  • Current SPG/SSG Adviser
  • School Head

The Selection Committee of the Commission on Appointments shall evaluate the appointment of possible SPG/SSG officers based on the components of the Appointment Application Packet using the enclosed Appointment Application Evaluation Tool (Enclosure No. 10). They shall decide on the approval or disapproval of possible SPG/SSG officers.

The specific procedures of SPG/SSG Appointment Guidelines can be found in Enclosure No.4

Appointment of officers can also be done in Homeroom Class Organizations.

CONTINUE READING:

Interim Guidelines on Student Government Elections for School Year 2021-2022 Under the New Normal

DepEd Homeroom Class Organization Election Guidelines (Manual)

DepEd Homeroom Class Organization Election Guidelines (Digital)

DepEd Grade Level Election Guidelines

DepEd SPG/SSG Appointment Guidelines