Section 1600.730  Return of Ballots and Ballot Counting Process

a)         For paper ballots, upon receipt of the election materials specified in Section 1600.720, the eligible voter shall:

1)         Mark his or her ballot in accordance with Section 1600.725;

2)         Place the completed ballot into the return envelope provided;

3)         Seal and mail, via U.S. mail only, the return envelope; and

4)         Mail paper ballots in the return envelope provided.  The ballot shall be mailed only to the address on the envelope.  Paper ballots delivered to the System in bulk, via hand delivery, by campus mail, or delivery other than as specified in this subsection (a)(4) are invalid and will not be counted.

b)        Ballots must be received by the close of business on Election Day.  Ballots received after Election Day are invalid and will not be counted.  A record of the receipt date of each ballot will be maintained.

c)         When multiple voting methods are authorized, the first ballot cast will be counted as the official ballot and any subsequent votes will not be counted.  The Board Secretary will develop procedures to ensure that only one ballot may be received from each eligible voter. 

d)         The Board Secretary will develop minimum standards to ensure ballots are properly recorded, secured, tabulated and retained.

e)         When all eligible ballots have been counted and tabulated, the necessary number of contributing members and annuitants who have received the greatest number of votes will be elected trustees; provided, however, the Board Secretary will ensure that, for the final composition of the Board, no more than 2 of the 4 contributing members are current employees of the University of Illinois at any of the campuses (Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, or Springfield) and no more than one of the 2 annuitants was last employed prior to retirement by the University of Illinois at any of the campuses.  If the maximum number of University of Illinois positions has been filled, then any remaining positions shall be filled as follows: 

1)         The remaining contributing member trustee positions will be filled by the contributing member nominees who are not current employees of the University of Illinois at any of the campuses and who received the greatest number of votes.

2)         The remaining annuitant trustee positions will be filled by annuitant nominees who were not last employed prior to retirement by the University of Illinois at any of the campuses and who received the greatest number of votes.

3)         In case of a tie, the contributing member nominee or annuitant nominee who will be elected will be determined by blind, random drawing.

4)         The results of the election process then will be declared by the Board Secretary.  

f)         The Board Secretary will certify to the Board the elected trustees by category and term of office.  The Board Secretary will further certify the place of employment for each contributing member and the last place of employment prior to retirement for each annuitant. 

g)         In any trustee election that can be filled by one or more candidates who are currently employed by or were last employed by any of the University of Illinois campuses, if the number of the highest vote-getting candidates affiliated with the University of Illinois campuses would cause the Board to exceed the participant limit of 2 established by Section 15-159(d)(3) or the annuitant limit of 1 established by Section 15-159(d)(4) of the Code, those candidates shall be seated, in order beginning with the longest elected term available, until the applicable limit of University of Illinois trustees is reached. All remaining University of Illinois affiliated candidates shall immediately be disqualified regardless of the number of votes they received or the elected term for which they ran. Each remaining seat shall then be filled by the non-University of Illinois candidate receiving the highest number of votes for that seat.

(Source:  Amended at 45 Ill. Reg. 2259, effective February 5, 2021)