Bill 515.

Summary.

The bill defines equal voting rights as the right of each eligible member of the university community to cast one vote with the same legal and electoral value. It excludes differences in weighting based on position, university constituency, seniority, academic qualification or any other personal or institutional status. This rule guides the subsequent amendments concerning who may vote, how authorities are elected and how results are counted.

By amending Law 17 of October 9, 1984, it provides for the rector of the Technological University of Panama to be elected by direct, secret and equal voting by students, professors, researchers and administrative employees. It retains the requirement to hold the ordinary election at least two months before the end of the term. It defines which teaching staff count as professors for these purposes. If the position becomes permanently vacant, the academic vice rector would assume the office and call an election within no more than 2 months. It also regulates the eligibility for reelection of a person who completes the term when the vacancy occurs 18 months before its end.

In Law 57 of July 26, 1996, it establishes direct, secret and equal voting for deans, vice deans and directors of regional technological institutes or regional centers, 2 months before the end of the term. Each academic unit’s electoral board would count those votes. In elections for authorities, each eligible person would have one vote of equal value. The central electoral board, composed of members of the unit boards, would perform the final count in the rector’s election, oversee the process and issue credentials. Its electoral regulations would require approval by at least two thirds (2/3) of its members. The amendment to Law 40 of November 18, 1997, applies equal voting rights to the election of the rector and the appointment of other authorities, in accordance with the organic statute.

For the University of Panama, the amendments to Law 24 of July 14, 2005, provide for direct, equal, secret, free and universal elections of the rector and the specified academic and regional authorities. They grant an equal vote to academic staff with at least 3 years of service, regular students and administrative staff, and define who qualifies as a regular student. The General University Council would approve the regulations governing electoral procedures in accordance with that principle.

At the Autonomous University of Chiriquí, the amendment to Law 4 of January 16, 2006, establishes direct, secret and equal voting for the rector and other elected authorities. It specifies service requirements for professors, researchers and administrative employees, requires them to retain voter eligibility through the election, and defines regular students. It sets the beginning of the rector’s term on the first day of the second semester and requires the election to be held at least 2 months before the end of the first semester.

The amendments to Law 81 of November 8, 2012, establish equal elections for the rector and deans through direct, secret, free and universal voting. In certain faculties with fewer than 5 permanent full time professors or fewer than 120 students enrolled for an academic term, they provide for selecting the dean through a competitive examination. They also identify eligible academic, student and administrative voters and define regular students at UMIP. The amendment to Law 288 of March 10, 2022, keeps the election of the rector of the Autonomous University of Indigenous Peoples with the Higher University Council, subject to equal voting rights and the procedure in the Organic Statute; that statute would govern the appointment of the other authorities. The final article lists the amended laws and sets the effective date as the day after promulgation.

The bill concerns the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), the General University Council, the Higher Electoral Tribunal and the electoral authorities of the public universities mentioned. It could be of interest to or affect their students, professors, researchers and administrative employees, as well as their governing bodies and academic units.