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► Document D: Section 10
SECTION TEN:
STANDING ORDERS GOVERNING THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS
10.1 GENERAL
10.1.1 There shall be Guild elections held for the following Guild representatives:
a) Executive Officers
b) Non-Executive Officers (10.9)
c) Guild Chairperson (10.9)
d) Guild Councillors (10.10)
e) University Council (10.10)
f) University Senate (10.11)
g) School Boards (10.11)
h) NUS Conference delegates (10.11)
i) Guild Council committee elections (10.13)
10.1.2 All elections for the above positions shall be held by secret ballot.
10.1.3 If a member of Steering Committee declares an interest then they shall not be allowed to be involved with any part of an election
10.2 Eligibility and nominations.
10.2.1 All candidates and their nominators shall be full or part-time members of the Guild.
10.2.2 All candidates for non-sabbatical positions should not be on placement.
10.2.3 The Vice President (Student Involvement) shall publish on the election notice board the names of candidates, within twenty-four hours after the close of nominations.
10.3 VOTING
10.3.1 Voting in all Guild elections shall be by a single transferable vote system and shall be conducted in accordance with a procedure of counting, as outlined by the Electoral Reform Society.
10.3.2 No candidate or their representatives may approach a person who wishes to vote immediately before that person does so. No election publicity will be in the immediate vicinity of a ballot box. Failure to comply with the above may lead to disqualification.
10.3.3 There will be a display of manifestos at each ballot box.
10.3.4 Ballot boxes will be operated at the discretion of Steering Committee.
10.3.5 All voters must produce a valid University I.D. card in order to vote in the elections.
10.3.6. R.O.N. will appear first on the ballot paper, followed by the candidates names. Names should be randomly and proportionally ordered on the ballot papers.
10.3.7 E-MAIL VOTING
a) Any student who is off-campus at the time of Executive Committee elections may vote by e-mail. They shall have access to the Candidate manifesto’s and should vote at the same time as ballot box voting.
b) The Returning Officer in conjunction with the Vice President (Student Involvement) shall ensure:
I) that the student does not vote twice by checking their SUN number with the database
ii) that the voter is informed that the vote must be returned when the ballot boxes are open
c) It is the responsibility of Steering Committee to ensure that all placement students are informed of these rights.
10.3.8 No student shall be allowed to vote in proxy for another student.
10.4 COUNTING
10.4.1 The Returning Officer or his/her nominated assistant shall supervise the count, the time of which shall be given on the notice of election. Each candidate and one observer may attend.
10.4.2 Results of elections shall be announced at an appropriate pre-advertised time after the count has been completed.
10.4.3 In the event of a tie, the Returning Officer shall determine a re-election between those candidates who have tied, to take place within a week.
10.5 EXPENSES
10.5.1 No candidate running in any election, or his/her supporters shall incur expenditure on the campaign in excess of that defined in the Financial Schedule (10.10), and of this amount they shall be refunded 50% by the Guild. In the case of an election being declared invalid, the decision to refund more than 50% shall be made by Steering Committee in consultation with the Returning Officer. Any candidate who is disqualified or otherwise ejected from their election shall forfeit their right to a refund of expenses.
10.5.2 Exceeding the permitted expenditure may lead to a candidate being disqualified. Excess expenditure will NOT be refunded.
10.5.3 Candidates should not receive support, financial or otherwise, from any external source.
10.5.4 Proof of purchase for all campaign items must be approved by the VP (Student Involvement) before the result is announced. Any anonymous expenses will be charged at commercial rates, as agreed by steering committee. This includes gifts handed out whilst campaigning.
10.6 CONDUCT
10.6.1 No announcements regarding the elections of candidates may be made over the public address system during the week preceding elections, except official announcements by the Returning Officer or a member of steering committee.
10.6.2 No candidate or any other person shall financially bribe, or attempt to financially bribe, any elector in any way whatsoever.
10.6.3 Any contravention of these rules may lead to the candidate(s) being disqualified from taking part in the elections. Any action taken will be at the discretion of the Returning Officer.
10.6.4 If an election is found to have been held in an improper fashion, the Returning Officer may declare the result invalid and order a new election.
10.6.5 Any attempt that may be made to disrupt an election may be considered in breach of order and accordingly be brought before Membership Committee.
10.6.6 All candidates and their supporters must campaign in a socially acceptable manner. Any complaints received due to unacceptable campaigning may result in the candidate being disqualified.
10.6.7 Sabbatical officers should stay impartial throughout the process of electing officers, unless they themselves are running for a position.
10.6.8 There shall be no campaigning or publication of election business, electronic or otherwise, before the candidates meeting. This includes intentions to run and recruitment of campaign teams.
10.6.9 All candidates must register their campaign teams with steering before campaigning begins. Individuals campaigning without being registered should come before membership committee. The candidate takes full responsibility for their campaign teams.
10.7 OBJECTIONS
10.7.1 Objections to the procedure, result or any other aspect of any Guild Election must be made in writing to the Returning Officer or VP (Student Involvement) not later than 5 working days after the results have been published.
10.7.2 Objections shall be investigated by the Returning Officer in consultation with Steering Committee and the results of the investigation will be published in writing.
10.7.3 If the Returning Officer decides that a breach of the Election Regulations has occurred during the Election and that this breach has materially affected the results he/she shall decide on one or more of the following courses of action:
a) To disqualify one or more of the candidates for breach of the election regulations.
b) To declare the poll to be null and void and to determine a new date for polling. The Returning Officer shall also decide whether the elections should be re-held between the candidates already nominated (excluding any who have been disqualified under a) above) or whether fresh nominations should be called for.
c) Hold a recount ignoring any preferences expressed for candidates disqualified under a) above and transferring any votes that these candidates may have received by the normal counting procedure.
10.8 MISCELLANEOUS
10.8.1 Candidates shall remove all election publicity in the seven days following the election. Candidates will lose their election deposit if this is not done.
USE OF GUILD EQUIPMENT
10.8.2 All candidates shall have access to computers available for their use from the Guild.
10.8.3 Use of the following is prohibited:
any Guild vehicle
any Guild publication
any tannoy/PA system
lighting and sound equipment.
10.8.4 Question Time will be held at a time and place decided by Steering Committee. Failure of a candidate to attend all Question Time sessions throughout will lead to disqualification unless steering rule that the candidate had reasonable grounds for absence.
10.8.5 Question Time shall be chaired by a member of Steering Committee whose decision shall be final.
10.8.6 All candidates have equal opportunity and time to answer questions put to them. Each question shall be answered by all the candidates standing for that position.
10.9 EXECUTIVE AND STANDING COMMITTEE OFFICER ELECTIONS
10.9.1 Notice of Elections
a) The elections for Executive Officers will be held together during the second term.
b) Notice of the election shall be given seven clear days in advance of the opening of nominations. The notice shall include the following dates: nominations opening, nominations closing, the count and the announcement of results. The campaign launch will be announced at the close of nominations at Steering Committee's discretion.
c) Nominations shall not close less than seven days after opening.
d) The poll shall be held at least seven days after the candidates meeting.
e) The Vice President (Student Involvement) on behalf of the Returning Officer shall publish on the election notice board the names of the candidates, within twenty-four hours of the close of nominations.
f) In the event of no nominations being received for a post for an election which has been advertised, the Returning Officer shall either extend the time for nominations, determine a new date for the elections or allow Guild Council to co-opt members into that post.
g) All candidates shall stand against new election in accordance with the New Election Campaign Code of Practice.
10.9.2 VACANCIES
Vacancies arising on Executive Committee shall be filled by election as soon as possible.
10.9.3 NO CONFIDENCE MOTIONS
If during a term of office of any Executive or Non-Executive Officer has a motion of no confidence passed subject to clause 7.1.8 of the Constitutional Regulations, that post will be deemed immediately vacant and shall be filled by election as soon as possible.
10.9.4 VACANCIES CAUSED BY DISMISSAL
If a person is caused to withdraw from office due to decisions made at a General Meeting or Guild Council, then there shall be an election held for that vacancy as soon as possible.
10.9.5 RESIGNATIONS
May only be deemed valid when written notice has been sent to the President.
10.10 GUILD COUNCILLORS
10.10.1 NOTICE AND TIMING
a) There shall be elections for Guild Councillors at the beginning of each academic year, and at intervals throughout the year while vacancies remain.
b) Each Guild councillor must have a proposer and a seconder.
c) Nominations for Guild Council must be received at least 24 hours before the meeting.
10.11 UNIVERSITY COUNCIL, SENATE AND SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS
10.11.1. NOTICE AND TIMING
a) Candidates will be elected by secret ballot at the first Guild Council of the academic year. Only Guild Councillors shall be eligible to vote.
10.12 DELEGATES TO NUS CONFERENCE (Ordinary and Annual)
10.12.1 Delegates to NUS conference will be elected in exactly the same way as executive officers.
10.12.2 The delegation leader will be chosen by the President.
10.12.3 The delegation leader has specified responsibilities to:
i) Produce a summarised report of the conference (including motions and commissions).
ii) Take a record of the votes as a delegation.
iii) Ensure the attendance of the delegates at all sessions of the conference
iv) Try to ensure representation at as wide a selection of commissions as possible.
10.13 GUILD COUNCIL COMMITTEE ELECTIONS FOR GUILD COMMITTEES
10.13.1 The president can co-opt members onto student committees at the first Guild Council meeting.
10.13.3 VACANCIES
In the event of no nominations being received for a position, Guild council may co-opt any member of the Guild who wishes to sit on the relevant committee.
10.14 REFERENDUMS
10.14.1 GENERAL
a) The procedure for calling a referendum shall be as outlined in the Constitution.
b) The question to be set shall be determined by the group calling for the referendum. The phrasing of the question, and the options should be decided by steering.
c) All referendums will be held by secret ballot.
10.14.2 NOTICE AND TIMING
a) Notice of a referendum shall be given 28 full days before the date of the ballot.
b) The Notice shall include the question to be put to the members of the Guild, the options available to vote for and the date by which the campaign teams must register.
c) The closing date for campaign teams to register shall not be less than fourteen days after the notice of referendum.
10.14.3 CAMPAIGN TEAMS
a) For each of the options for which the members can vote on there can be up to 3 campaign teams.
b) The campaign team must register with Steering Committee by the date set out in the notice of elections.
c) Each campaign team must have a chairperson and at least two supporters. The chairperson, the supporters and campaign team must be full time members of the Guild
d) When the campaign team registers they must submit a manifesto, outlining their arguments, which must be no longer than two sides of A4.
e) The chairperson of a campaign team shall be treated as a candidate for the purposes of election regulations.
10.14.4 RUNNING A REFERENDUM
a) The organisation and running of a referendum shall be done in accordance with the election guidelines (section 10.3 to section 10.8).
10.14.5 EXPENSES
a) Campaign teams who require financial assistance should state their case on one side of A4, and this should be handed to the Vice President (Student Involvement) at the same time as registering. The case should state why the money is required and what the team plans to with the money.
b) Steering shall allocate a budget to each campaign team as deemed appropriate by the merits of each case. The maximum budget allocable shall be outlined in the Financial Schedule.
c) Each of the options for which the members can vote should be funded equally, according to the financial schedule.
c) Each campaign team can claim back all expenses up to the limit as set in the Financial Schedule.
d) Any campaign team going over the budget could be withdrawn from the referendum and held personally responsible for the surplus.
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