Elections guide
Never voted in an AAC election? No problem. This guide explains everything calmly, from the very beginning. You don't need to know anything beforehand.
What is an election?
The AAC is run by students elected by its own members. In each election you choose who will lead a body: the Executive Board, a student group, a cultural or sports section, or another body.
Each election has a calendar: first candidacies are submitted, then there is a campaign, then voting and, finally, counting. Everything is organised by an Electoral Commission, which makes sure the Statutes and Electoral Regulations are followed.
Can I vote?
You can vote if you are a member of the body holding the election and your name is on the electoral roll, the official list of who can vote.
To check, open the election on this site, go to the "Where to vote" tab and enter your member number (your student number). The site tells you straight away whether you are on the roll. For safety, it never shows names, it only confirms the number.
How to vote, step by step
Check you are on the roll
In the election's "Where to vote" tab, enter your member number.
See where and when you can vote
The same tab lists every ballot box, with its place and hours. You can vote at any of them: pick the most convenient.
Bring an ID document
Bring a document with a photo, such as your Citizen Card or student card. The polling station members need to confirm who you are.
Go to the polling station
Say your member number and show your document. The polling station member finds you on the roll and records that you voted. This way nobody can vote twice.
Get your ballot papers
You get one ballot paper for each body being elected. Each paper shows the lists standing for that body.
Choose in secret
Go to the voting booth (the private space) and put a cross (X) in the box of the list you choose. Mark only one box on each paper. Nobody can see how you vote.
Put the paper in the ballot box
Fold the paper so your choice is hidden, and put it in the ballot box. That's it: you have voted!
Blank and spoilt votes
Blank vote: you hand in the paper with no mark. It counts as turnout but goes to no list.
Spoilt vote: the paper has more than one cross, drawings, words or any mark that makes the choice unclear. It counts for no list.
To decide who wins, only votes for lists (valid votes) count.
Early voting
Some elections have early voting: a separate ballot box, open on a day before general voting, for those who cannot vote on the main day. If there is one, it appears in the calendar and in "Where to vote", marked as early voting. You can only vote once, either early or in the general vote.
I want to stand
To stand, you join other people in a list (or, in some elections, stand on your own). Every candidate must be on the electoral roll.
The forms are in each election's "Documents" tab. Fill them in digitally and sign with the Chave Móvel Digital. The list names a representative, who deals with the Electoral Commission on its behalf.
The candidacy is handed in at the AAC Secretariat within the calendar deadline. The President of the Electoral Commission then approves or rejects each candidacy, and the representative is told by email. Lists appear on this site once the deadline has passed and every candidacy for that body has been decided.
A list can withdraw. The withdrawal is recorded and the list is no longer voted on.
After voting
When the ballot box closes, the polling station members count the votes, in front of anyone who wishes to watch. Each ballot box's results only appear on this site after the President of the Electoral Commission approves them.
In absolute-majority elections, the list with more than half of the valid votes wins. If none does, or there is a tie, a second round is held between the two most voted lists, sometimes only for the body concerned.
In the "Turnout" tab you can follow, hour by hour, how many people have voted. In the "Results" tab you see each list's votes, in total and per ballot box, with charts.
Something went wrong? Complaints
If you saw something that is not right, you can submit a complaint up to 48 hours after the ballot boxes close, in the election's "Complaints" tab. Enter your name, member number and email and describe what happened. You get a receipt by email and, later, the reply from the President of the Electoral Commission.
For questions, use the official Electoral Commission email in each election's "Contacts" tab.
How to use this site
The home page lists every election, current ones first. You can filter by type of body, status and year, or search by name. When you open an election, the tabs are at the top: Calendar, Candidacies, Where to vote, Turnout, Results, Contacts, Documents and Complaints.
The site is in Portuguese and English: use the EN/PT button in the menu.
You can also choose light or dark mode with the button next to the language.
What does each election status mean?
Nothing has started yet: the calendar is approved but the candidacy period has not opened.
Candidacies can be handed in at the Secretariat.
The candidacies are known and the lists are presenting their ideas.
The campaign is over and voting has not started.
Early voting is open, in a separate ballot box on a day before general voting.
Early voting was suspended by the Electoral Commission.
Early voting is over and general voting has not started.
You can vote now. See "Where to vote" for ballot boxes and hours.
Voting was suspended by the Electoral Commission.
The election was annulled and will be repeated.
The ballot boxes are closed and counting has not started.
Votes are being counted. Results appear as each ballot box is approved.
All votes have been counted and approved. The results are final.
Counting was suspended by the Electoral Commission.
Nobody stood within the deadline, so there was no vote.
Words you will come across
- Election
- A specific election with its own calendar. It can elect more than one body at once (for example, a section's Plenary Board and its Board).
- Member
- A student or person registered with the AAC. Only members can vote and stand.
- Electoral roll
- The official list of people who can vote in an election. If you are not on it, you cannot vote in that election.
- Electoral Commission
- The group that runs the election and makes sure everything follows the rules. It is led by the President of the Electoral Commission.
- Polling station
- The place where you vote, with a ballot box and the people looking after it (the polling station members).
- Ballot box
- The closed, sealed box where ballot papers go. It is only opened at the end, to count the votes.
- Ballot paper
- The paper where you mark your choice. There is one for each body being elected.
- List
- A group of people standing together for a body. Each list has a letter and a name.
- Representative
- The person who represents a list before the Electoral Commission.
- Observer
- A person appointed by the Audit Board or the Disciplinary Board to follow the election and check that everything is done properly.
- Approval
- The official confirmation, by the President of the Electoral Commission, that a candidacy or a result is correct.
- Abstention
- The people who could vote and did not.
- Second round
- A new vote, only between the two most voted lists, when none got more than half of the votes (or there was a tie).
- Quorum
- The minimum number of people who must be present at a meeting for it to start or for its decisions to be valid.