ELECTION REGULATIONS
This schedule outlines what to do for all elections for all positions in the union. It also outlines the procedure to follow if a vacancy occurs in any position.
1.1 Returning Officer
i) The Returning Officer, who shall not be a member of theUnion, shall be appointed annually by Student Parliament, subject to the approval of the College Corporation. However it shall, as a general rule, be the Students’ Union Manager, unless there is a conflict of interest. The Returning Officer shall be responsible for the good conduct and administrationof all Union elections and shall have the sole interpretationof the electionregulations. They shall not be a full member of the union. The Returning Officer may appoint assistants to support them in their duties, (who should not be members of the unionfor Executive Committee elections).
1.2 When elections should happen
i) The Returning Officer shall ensure that electionof the executive committee takes place before the end of April each year. Once elected the members of the committee shall take office from July 1st of that year and shall serve for not more than 13 months without another election being called.
ii) The dates of elections for executive committee members, a copy of the election timetable and a copy of the election regulations shall be postedon the union notice-board at least 21 college days before the elections.
1.3 Standing for members of the Student Union Executive
i)
i) The members of the executive committee shall be:
v the President
v the Deputy President, Education and Finance
v the Vice President, Equality and Diversity
v the Vice President, Welfare
v the Vice President, Activities and Community
v the Further Education officer
v the Higher Education officer
v the 14-16 student officer
v the Mature Students Officer
v the Communications
v the Publicities officer
v the Campaigns and Environment officer
v the LGBT officer
v the Disabled Students officer
v the BAME Students officer
v the International Students officer
v the Women’s Welfare officer
v the Men’s Welfare officer
v the Societies officer
v the Events officer
ii) All members of the union are eligible to stand for any of the Executive
Committee, (except if that student has exercised their right to opt out), except the women’s and mature students officer
iii) Only members of the union who are women are eligible to stand for the position of women’s officer, (except if that student has exercised their right to opt out).
iv) Only students of the age of 19 are allowed to stand in the election to the position of Mature Students Officer
v) Reopen nominations (RON) shall be a candidate in all union elections.
vi) Nomination forms will be available from the returning officer and shall be available from college reception, the college library and the union office twenty college days before the election. The nomination form shall contain a copy of the description of the role of each position in the election. It shall also contain information on the facilities the union will make available to each candidate.
vii) Members of the union may stand for election upon completion of a nomination form signed by the candidate and at least one proposer and one seconder.
viii) Nomination forms must reach the returning officer or a person appointed by him/her not later than 5.00pm on the day, twelve college days before the date of the commencement of the ballot.
1.5 Election for members of Student Parliament
i) The members of the Student Parliament, (other than the members of the Executive Committee) will be
ii) two school representatives
iii) a representative from each of the Student Involvement Groups
iv) a representative from each recognised club or society
v) Nominations shall open at the start of the meeting of the school/student involvement group/club/society first meeting of the year and shall require a Proposer and Seconder who are members of the meeting.
vi) If more that one nomination is received a secret ballot shall be held.
vii) The election will be by First Past the Post
viii) The Student Union President will act as returning officer for the school representative and student involvement groups elections.
1.6 Publicity about the Executive Committee Elections
i) The Returning Officer shall produce a list of candidates (together with the Proposer and one Seconder) which shall be displayed on the union notice-boards within 48 hours of the close of nominations for the Student Union Executive.
ii) Candidates may produce a manifesto and a poster (s) to a specification to be determined by the returning officer, which must be handed in with the completed nomination form.
iii) On receipt of a valid nomination form the Returning Officer or a person appointed by him/her shall provide the candidate with an election campaign pack.
iv) The contents of the election campaign pack shall be determined by the returning officer in conjunction with the executive committee.
1.7 Nominations
i) Each candidate, a Proposer and two Seconders shall sign a nomination form.
ii) Members of theUnionshall sign no more than one nomination paper per vacant position.
iii) Nominations for all elections shall close at 5 pm, not less than fifteen working days before the election is due to take place.
iv) Any candidate may withdraw their nominations by so informing the Returning Officer in writing before the commencement of voting.
v) Under no circumstances shall the Returning Officer, or anyone appointed to hold the nomination forms, prior to the close of nominations, reveal to any person details of any nomination received.
vi) Candidates shall appear on the ballot paper in alphabetical order. The forename and surname by which the candidate is commonly known shall be used. In the event of any doubt or dispute the forename and surname as shown on their enrolment form shall be used.
1.8 Campaigning
i) No campaign material shall be released until nominations have been officially announced. This includes the setting up of any social network site e.g. Facebook, bebo, Myspace etc.
ii) Candidates shall not advertise:
a) On the windows, walls or doors of the Union Offices
b) On material produced on facilities, not available to all candidates from within the College.
iii) No publicity material may be affixed in such a way as to interfere with the publicity of another candidate. And no candidate may remove or deface the publicity of another candidate.
iv) No candidate may incur or initiate expenditure on any election. TheUnionshall provide the following facilities for each candidate:-
a) Sabbatical Officer – £50.00 of printing materials from the College Print Room only.
b) The Executive – £20.00 of printing materials from the College Print Room only.
c) All publicity will be sent to print by the Returning Officer or their delegate.
v) No candidate shall use publicity to primarily promote another candidate, in the same election, or to promote a commercial activity.
vi) Candidates cannot use any communication materials that are not sanctioned by the election campaign pack.
vii) There shall be no campaigning within the same room as any ballot box, and no campaign material should be left near the ballot box.
viii) A ‘questiontime’ session(Hustings) shall be held at a time and date to be determined by the Returning Officer. Any candidate absent from questiontime without sending apologies to the Returning Officer, in advance shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the election. The length of speeches and responses by candidates to questions shall be determined by the Returning Officer who shall also appoint a chair.
ix) The Returning Officer shall publicise the locationand arrangements of the questiontimes and voting stations, together with a list of candidates and manifestos, ten college days before voting.
x) Candidates and their campaigners must adhere to good conduct throughout the entire course of the elections, from nominations through to the counting of the votes. If any candidate or their campaigners are found to be breach of this ruling, the candidate will be disqualified from the elections.
1.8 Voting procedures for Executive Committee Elections
i) The returning officer shall ensure that all members of the union have access to vote no matter their place or time of study.
ii) All members of the unionshall be able to vote for the positions as outlined in 1.3 (i) except the centre officers who shall be elected by the members registered at that centre. The women’s Welfare officer, who shall be elected by women members and the Men’s Welfare officer, who shall be elected by men members. This also applies to the positions of FE and HE Governors, only FE students can vote for the FE Governor and HE students can vote for the HE Governor.
iii) All members of the union may vote on production of a current union membership card or appropriate identification as decided by the returning officer.
iv) A voting paper will be issued to each voter, which shall bear the union stamp. Votes will be cast in sealed ballot boxes. Voting papers shall bear the name of each candidate and the office being contested. There will be a facility for reopening nominations as outlined in clause 1.3 (v).
v) Voting shall be by secret ballot, by the marking of an X (s) next to the candidate(s) who is the preference of then voter.
vi) A postal vote shall be granted to any full member of the union who is unable to exercise their right to vote in person.
vii) The returning officer shall publicise the arrangements for postal voting at the time of close of nominations.
viii) The member must inform the returning officer in writing, at least 4 college days before the beginning of voting, that they wish to vote by post.
ix) Postal votes will be accepted up until the close of ballot boxes, at the end of the voting period.
x) Student Parliament reserves the right to authorise any other method of voting.
1.9 Counting and declaring votes for Executive Committee Elections
i) The returning officer shall inform the candidates of the time and venue of the count. The candidate or their appointed representative may, if they so wish, attend the counting of the votes as observers only.
ii) The returning officer may be assisted in the count by a number of individuals appointed by them.
iii) Once the votes have been counted they should be kept for a period of six months in case of appeals against the result.
iv) Results of the elections shall be declared by the returning officer when the count for each post has been completed and any complaint has been resolved to the satisfaction of the returning officer.
v) A list of successful candidates will normally be posted at each site within one college day of the declaration of results. The returning officer should send a copy of the result to Student Parliament, the college corporation and the college library.
vi) The results will become official 48 hours after they have been posted provided that no complaint has been lodged with the returning officer within 48 hours. In the event of a complaint being received by the returning officer the results shall be suspended until the complaint has been resolved.
vii) The ballot paper(s) shall include the statement “Reopen nominations” (RON). For the purposes of counting, RON shall be treated as a candidate. If the RON is elected the Returning Officer shall declare the vacancy unfilled.
viii) Counting shall be by ‘First Past the Post’. To vote under FPTP, the voter simply puts a cross in the box next to the candidate’s name. The candidate with the most votes in each contest is declared the winner. All other votes count for nothing.
1.10 Election Complaints for Student Union Executive and Parliament
i) Any challenge or complaint concerning the administration and good conduct of the election will be heard and determined by the returning officer within 48 hours of such a complaint being lodged by any full member or the candidate or their nominee.
ii) Any complaint against the conduct or administration of the election should be received by the returning officer before the start of the count.
iii) A challenge or complaint during or following the count, must only relate to the conduct of the count, and be lodged with the returning officer who shall resolve the complaint within 48 hours of it being lodged.
iv) In determining a resolution to the complaint, the returning officer after hearing all the appropriate evidence may not uphold the complaint; or may halt elections for specified post(s) or disqualify specified candidate(s) if, in their view, a candidate(s) has breached election regulations. The ruling of the returning officer on any complaint shall be final, subject only to a successful appeal to the Clerk to the Corporation, in accordance with clause 3.9.4 of the complaints procedure, contained within the Code of Practice (Appendix Three) of this constitution.
1.11 Vacancies for positions on the executive committee
i) If any post on the executive committee falls vacant between July and November, then a by-election shall be arranged by the returning officer. If a vacancy occurs at any other time then Student Parliament may choose to co-opt a student into the position. Nominations shall open no later then ten college days after confirmation of the vacancy arising. All other election regulations apply.
1.12 Vacancies for positions on the Student Parliament
i) If any post on the Student Parliament falls vacant, then a by-election shall be arranged by the student union President at the appropriate school council, club & society or student involvement group meeting.
