Policies and guidelines for campaigning are designed to ensure candidates and the members who they desire to represent are fully engaged, informed, and equipped to fulfill their respective responsibilities in the electoral process.
Any organizational member may report a suspected violation of nominations, election, or campaign policies or guidelines to the Nominations Committee at nominations@dsp.org.
All candidates for elected office are subject to the following guidelines and expectations:
Conduct
Candidates are responsible for conducting themselves according to our Ritual and are accountable for compliance with the Fraternity’s Code of Conduct and campaign polices and guidelines.
- Candidates also bear accountability for ensuring their supporters are in compliance with the Code of Conduct and all policies and guidelines.
- Candidates may contact the Nominations Committee for guidance or clarification. Candidates are expected to participate in any orientations or training sessions for the purpose of ensuring clarity and compliance with election and campaigning policies and guidelines.
Campaign Communication Requests
If at any time individual members or officers of a chapter wish for a candidate or the supporters of a candidate to cease campaigning contact and communications, the members or chapter representatives should communicate this desire to the candidate in writing using a method which provides an electronic timestamp (email, text message, direct message, chat, etc.), retaining a timestamped copy for their records. The candidate should immediately cease campaigning contact and remove the individuals or chapters from any campaign distribution groups or lists.
- Continued campaigning contact should be reported to the Nominations Committee along with the timestamped request to cease communications and evidence (with timestamps) of subsequent communication. The Committee will review and determine if a violation has occurred.
- If a member cannot provide timestamped evidence of a violation or if the accused candidate can provide timestamped evidence that the communication in question predated the request to cease, the Nominations Committee may conclude no violation has occurred, though the candidate will be directed to cease communications from that point forward unless the individual or chapter re-initiates contact at a later date.
- Any organizational member may report a suspected violation of nominations, election, or campaign policies or guidelines to the Nominations Committee at nominations@dsp.org.
Candidate Campaigning
Members submitting a nomination may not engage in any campaign activity until they have been confirmed as candidates by the Nominations Committee and candidacy publishes on the Fraternity website.
- Confirmed candidates may actively campaign for election by engaging members in the following ways:
- Conversation at Fraternity events
- Making presentations in-person or using remote communications technology at chapter meetings (upon majority approval of said chapter’s executive committee)
- Participating in caucuses or other forums arranged for that purpose
- Creating a campaign website
- Disseminating information to chapter leaders through approved email format which may be read aloud, copied or distributed electronically to chapter members at the discretion of the president (see below for details)
- Social networking, text or instant messages, etc.
- Any type of messaging lists such as text, instant messaging, group chats, etc, must be opted in by the member.
- Direct Emails
- Direct emails to chapter members can be sent via the Candidate Contact page. Messages through this form will go directly to the Chapter President, VPCO, and District Director of chapters in the area the candidate is running.
- Candidates will have the ability to send one email per month using this form from March 15 – July 15, 2025.
- Any additional campaign emails sent directly to chapter leaders/members requires written advance permission from that member.
- Campaigning at Fraternity Events
- Any campaigning should not distract from nor pull attendees away from scheduled activities or programming.
- Distribution of promotional items and materials is prohibited by candidates or their supporters at regional, provincial, or national events (including regional initiations and chapter installations, and Grand Chapter Congress).
- Candidates may state their intent to run as part of introducing themselves at a non-campaign Fraternity event. However, they may not campaign during that event and should direct anyone wishing to talk about their candidacy to connect with them separately.
- Example: “Hi, my name is Cory. I’m part of the Twin Cities Alumni chapter and a candidate for Past Grand President.”
- Confirmed candidates may wear a name badge (or similarly sized sticker, ribbon, or button) at local, regional, or national events indicating their intent to run for office.
- Virtual meeting backgrounds promoting a candidate during virtual Fraternity events are prohibited unless the virtual event is for the purpose of providing a forum for candidates and Fraternity members to connect.
Campaign Promotion and Materials
- Campaign promotions should not feature, quote, reference, or tag other Deltasigs without their permission.
- Candidate and campaign promotion must be completely separate of promotion of Fraternity-sponsored events or other non-campaign forums.
- If you are commenting about, participating in, or promoting a non-campaign Fraternity event or forum (such as LEAD, Fraternity Facebook groups, chapter events, or Fraternity committee activities), you may do so as a Deltasig and not as a candidate; you must refrain from promoting your candidacy in those events or forums.
- If you wish to share thoughts or plans related to your candidacy or engage members in discussion about your candidacy, you should do so in a designated campaign forum.
- Distribution of promotional items and materials is prohibited by candidates or their supporters at regional, provincial, or national events (including regional initiations and chapter installations, and Grand Chapter Congress).
Candidate Forums
- Fraternity-sponsored “meet the candidate” forums will be held at Grand Chapter Congress, along with others that may be planned by the nominations committee with dates TBD.
- All unofficial forums (whether hosted by individual members or planned by current national officers or chapter officers) should be clearly promoted as not planned, run, or sponsored by the Fraternity
- Any such unofficial forums are to provide the opportunity for all candidates for a particular office to participate.
- Example: Alpha Chapter hosts a meeting to introduce candidates to members. All candidates for that position, at the time of the event, should be invited to attend. Future candidates for that same position should also be given an equal opportunity when feasible.
- Candidates are responsible for any costs related to their campaign activity. Fraternity equipment, supplies, and staff time may not be used for Fraternity election campaign purposes of any kind, with the exception of interim elections to fill PVP and RVP vacancies, during which the Central Office will, upon request, provide chapter contact information at no cost to candidates.