The Central Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is one of the university-wide student bodies created under the UST Government Constitution. It is a collegial body composed of student-representatives from faculties, colleges, institutes, schools with a local student council.
The principal goal of the COMELEC is to determine the true will of the electorate in choosing their student leaders for the Local Student Councils and the Central Student Council, and likewise to settle election issues and controversies. In all its activities and processes, the COMELEC following the dictate of conscience and the pursuit of truth , shall always consider the protection of the rights of students as voter, as candidate of a particular political party, as member of a political party, with utmost regard with more fundamental right to study.
It performs three important functions: executive, quasi-legislative, and quasi-judicial. The CENTRAL COMELEC is made up of:
the Executive Board, composed of the chairperson, the vice-chairperson, and heads of the different committees; the COMELEC Chamber, composed of all the chairpersons of the various local COMELEC units; the COMELEC En Banc, composed of the local COMELEC student representatives from the different Faculties/Colleges/Institutes/Schools.
The Executive Board and COMELEC Chamber conduct the electoral activities, enforce and execute the laws, policies and regulations regarding elections.
The COMELEC En-Banc acts as the policy-making body of the COMELEC and is in charge of the formulation of procedures, rules and regulations pertinent to the implementation of all election laws. In certain cases the COMELEC En Banc also acts as the Central Adjudicatory Board, with quasi- judicial functions as an election tribunal for settling electoral issues and controversies, and as an appellate body for the review of decisions made by the local COMELEC.
The Office for the Student Affairs shall assign an adviser for the COMELEC. Otherwise, the legal consultant of the Office for Student Affairs shall be the ex-officio adviser for the Central COMELEC (USEC, 2011).