Election Guidelines

The SIA Youth Council election process is designed to be transparent, fair, and inclusive, ensuring a continuous rotation of The SIA Youth Council election process is designed to be transparent, fair, and inclusive, ensuring a continuous rotation of members while maintaining stability within the council.

Therefore the following rules apply for the next election period from Monday, 21st of September until Wednesday, 23rd of September:

1. All SIA Alumni and this year’s participants (Discovery Journey & Incubation) are invited to participate in the voting process and will receive an invitation via email.
2. SIA Alumni and this year’s participants (Discovery Journey & Incubation) will receive an email with voting instructions and a standardized file to complete and return. The file may not be altered.
3. The election period takes place from Monday, 21st of September, 10 am CEST until Wednesday, 23rd of September, 11.59 pm CEST. Only votes cast during this period will be considered valid.
4. The election follows the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, allowing you to rank your top three preferred candidates in order of preference. In order to be elected each candidate needs to acquire at least 1 vote. If your top choice doesn’t secure enough votes to be elected, or if they have more votes than needed, your vote is transferred to your next preferred candidate to ensure fair and representative results.
5. In this voting period 5 seats for the Youth Council are available.
6. The candidates with the highest ranks will be elected as Youth Council members until all seats are distributed.
7. If multiple candidates could be considered for the last seat, accumulating the same amount of votes, a random draw (e.g. lottery or coin toss) can be used to break the tie fairly and transparently.
8. All elected members will serve as Youth Council members from October 2026 until October 2028.
9. In the event that a Youth Council member steps down before completing their term, the next highest-ranked candidate that is not already serving may be appointed to fill the vacancy. The new candidate will finish the remaining term, after which new elections are held.
10. Each Youth Council member can run for max. two consecutive terms. After that a break of at least one term is needed, before the alumnus is eligible for candidacy again.
11. The definitive list of eligible candidates is provided while elections are open at: https://socialimpactaward.net/become-a-youth-council-member.
12. The candidates determined by the election will be informed by Friday, 25th of September and asked to confirm their candidacy by signing a Youth Council Membership Agreement.
13. After successful confirmation, the selected candidates for the Youth Council will be published on the Youth Council website on Thursday, October 1st and promoted via SIA’s digital communications channels in the following weeks.
14. The selection and election process for the SIA Youth Council is conducted in a transparent and fair manner.

The final results are binding, and there is no legal entitlement or recourse to claim a position on the Youth Council. Any decisions regarding tie-breakers, term allocations, or candidate appointments are made in accordance with the established election guidelines and cannot be contested through legal means.