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ELECTIONS

General Regulations for Elections

1. This Bye-Law sets out the baseline requirements for the operation of elections. More detailed guidelines and requirements can be found in Bye-Law 8: Members Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedure, the Constitution, and Elections: a Candidates’ Guide.

2. Sabbatical officer and student trustee elections shall be referred to as Leadership Elections for the remainder of this document. Club, society and sports committee elections shall be referred to as Student Activities Elections for the remainder of this document. Student rep elections shall be referred to as rep elections for the remainder of the document.

3. No member shall have more than one vote in each election.

4. Voting shall be by secret ballot following rules approved by the Electoral Reform Society for:

4.1. alternative vote in single post elections; and 4.2. single Transferable Vote in multiple post elections with the addition of Re-Open Nominations (R.O.N.) as a standard option.

5. When Re-Open Nominations is the winning candidate in an election then the post in question shall remain vacant until a by-election is held.

6. When Re-Open Nominations is the winning candidate in a multi-seat election, its surplus of votes shall be transferred to a new re-open nominations candidate.

7. The overall responsibility for the conduct of officer elections belongs to the Trustee Board and/or their nominees.

8. For the Leadership Elections the Returning Officer shall normally be an external professional supplied by the National Union of Students and will ensure that these elections are conducted in accordance with the Constitution, Bye-Laws, and any rules governing the conduct of campaigns. Under no circumstances shall the President be Returning Officer. For student activities and student rep elections the Deputy Chief Executive Officer shall be the Returning Officer.

8.1. The Returning Officer shall also be responsible for:

8.1.1. ensuring all procedures governing elections are rigorously applied.

8.1.2. producing a report on the results and conduct of the election to the following meeting of the Board of Trustees, except where they delegate responsibility to a sub committee.

8.1.3. notifying the student body of the outcome of the election.

8.1.4. notifying the University of any irregularities and also that all elections have been carried out in accordance with the requirements of the 1994 Education Act, Schedules and Standing Orders.

8.2. The Deputy Returning Officer/s who will normally be members of the Union staff, shall be delegated operational responsibility for the organisation of the elections. The Deputy Returning Officer/s will support the Returning Officer in their duties and shall be responsible for ensuring the suitable conduct of the Leadership Elections, subject to their decisions being approved by the Returning Officer, where appropriate.

Elected Positions

9. The following positions shall be elected annually and from time to time as required:

9.1. Sabbatical Officers

9.2. Student Trustees

9.3. All committee positions within every society and sports club

9.4. Student reps.

Online Elections

10. Leadership elections are normally run as hybrid online and paper elections. All online elections can be found on the Students’ Union website.

11. Student activities and student rep elections are all held entirely online. All online elections can be found on the Students’ Union website.

12. All members of Bucks Students’ Union will be able to access the Leadership Elections but only members of the individual club, society or sports team will be able to access their committee elections. Each student will be able to access their own cohort student rep election.

13. Timings of online elections shall be in line with Bye-Law 4: Elections, and can be found in Appendix 1.

14. Student activities and student rep elections do not require proposers and seconders to support their nomination.

15. Members can update their own details for the online elections, however any changes need to be approved by the appropriate Union staff member before the start of voting.

16. There will be no Candidate Question Time for the student activities or student rep elections however we do encourage each club, society or sports team to have their own elections debate for their members.

17. Only full student members of a club, society, or sports team may vote in an election for their committee. This requires the member to be a student of Buckinghamshire New University, not have opted out of the Students’ Union, attained an online club/society membership, and attended at least one session or match prior to the deadline for nominations.

18. Students can only vote in the student rep election for their course or group of courses as defined by the Representation Department.

19. The Count for online elections will be conducted by the Deputy Returning Officer after the close of voting. The result shall be announced to the candidates and published online within one calendar week of the close of voting.

Timing of Elections

20. Elections will be held at times which are practicable and enable the largest possible number of members to vote, normally in the first half of the second semester of each year, with regard given to term dates, public holidays and major Union events.

21. Not less than 30 days before a Leadership Election is due to be held, the Returning Officer shall appoint Deputy Returning Officer/s.

22. Nominations shall be open no less than 15 working days before the close of polling.

23. Detailed notice of elections shall be given a minimum of ten working days before nominations open.

24. A leadership election candidates’ meeting must be held following the closure of nominations at a time specified by the Deputy Returning Officer/s. Candidates are informed that non-attendance at the candidate meeting or subsequent briefings is not a permissible excuse for breaking any election rules.

25. The Deputy Returning Officer/s and any supporting committee, in consultation with the Union’s senior managers, shall fix the deadlines associated with nominations, voting, Question Time and media publications. Together with the other deadlines as required for the effective administration of elections.

26. The Deputy Returning Officer/s shall be responsible for the conduct of the ballot in accordance with the Constitution and Bye-Laws.

27. The Deputy Returning Officer/s will annually update “Elections: A Candidates’ Guide” which will set out regulations governing the conduct of leadership election candidate’s campaigns, Question Time, deadlines, details of polling and any other regulations required to ensure the smooth running and fairness of the election process. These, along with this Bye-Law, will form binding rules for candidates and their campaign teams.

28. The Deputy Returning Officer/s will issue the polling clerks with instructions as to how to conduct the ballot.

29. The Deputy Returning Officer/s shall also instruct the relevant members of Union staff to publicise the place, date and times of voting and Candidates’ Question Time, as well as deadlines for the submission of manifestos and the closure date of nominations.

By-Elections

30. Sabbatical Officers elected in by-elections shall hold office from the date that the result is declared or from the original post start date, which ever is later, for the remainder of that period in office.

30.1. In the event of a Student Trustee vacancy, the Trustee Board can call a by-election in line with Appendix 1.

30.2. In the event of a vacancy for a NUS delegate the Union Council shall co-opt a student who they deem fit.

30.3. In the event of a vacancy for a sports captain, the by-election shall be run at the earliest convenience. With an appropriate person, selected by the Student Activities Manager, covering the position during the interim until the by-election result is announced, so as to ensure the on pitch duties are maintained.

30.4. In the event of a vacancy for an established club, society or sports team non-playing committee position at the start of the year a byelection shall be run in accordance with Appendix 1.

30.5. In the event of a vacancy for a student rep position the by-election shall be held in line with Appendix 1. In the event of a vacancy in a student rep position after this the Representation Department can hold in-class elections on an ad hoc basis in order to fill the rep vacancy before the programme committee.

Nominations

31. Each Leadership Election candidate is required to have a proposer and seconder and shall enter their details onto the nomination form. The proposer, seconder and nominee must all be full members of the Union.

32. A full member may only nominate themselves for one vacant post in the Leadership Elections.

33. No member of the Union shall sign more nomination papers than there are vacancies in that election, nor may they sign a nomination paper for any election in which they are not entitled to vote.

34. Nominations shall close at noon on the following days:

34.1. No later than five working days before the election is due to take place for the Leadership Elections.

34.2. No later than nine working days before the ballot opens or two days for a by-election for the Student Activities elections.

34.3. No later than two days before the ballot opens for rep elections.

35. Any leadership election candidate may withdraw their nomination by so informing the Deputy Returning Officer/s in writing no later than three working days before the ballot opens. After which the name of the candidate will remain on the ballot paper. In this instance, the candidate will be excluded in the first round of voting and their votes will transfer to the remaining candidates.

36. The Deputy Returning Officer shall publicise details of all nominations through the relevant student media channels.

37. Re-Open Nominations will be a candidate in every Union election. Though any full member wishing to run a R.O.N. campaign against any post should be registered with the Returning Officer within three days of the publication of the nominations. Only one R.O.N. campaign will be allowed for each post. If more than one full member registers to run a R.O.N. campaign against a post, the Returning Officer will call a meeting and instruct all these members to form a group to run the campaign.

38. R.O.N. will be treated like any other candidate and as such will have a campaign budget equal to the other candidates and will fall under the same requirements in relation to conduct and behaviour as the other candidates.

Leadership Election Candidate Question Time

39. Candidate Question Times may be held after the close of nominations for all Leadership Elections and prior to the voting period.

40. The Deputy Returning Officer or their nominee shall be responsible for the organisation and conduct of Candidate Question Times and shall ensure that all candidates receive an equal opportunity to speak.

Voting

41. Voter eligibility shall be determined at the close of nominations:

41.1. from the registered students of Buckinghamshire New University for the leadership elections.

41.2. by cross referencing registers with the online membership list for the Student Activities elections. Eligible voters will be contacted between the close of nominations and the opening of voting.

41.3. from students in the same year and course or group of courses that the student will be representing for the student rep elections.

42. Candidates and their representatives shall not encroach within three metres of the voting area except for the purpose of voting.

43. A voter shall express a first preference by placing the figure ‘1’ on the ballot paper adjacent to their first preference. A voter may express further preferences by placing candidates in their respective order.

44. The list of voters may only be scrutinised by the Returning Officer and the clerks on duty. This list shall remain confidential except potentially in the event of a formal complaint.

45. Leadership Election candidates shall appear on the ballot paper in the order in which they are drawn by lots, student activities and student rep election, candidates shall appear in random order.

46. The candidate will be given the opportunity to express a preference over the name to be displayed on the ballot paper at the time of nomination. The candidate may use up to an extra six words or initials to describe the platform on which they are standing.

47. Once cast, votes cannot be rescinded or changed.

Publicity

48. The Deputy Returning Officer/s or their nominee shall be responsible for advising the Union’s media on coverage of the elections, but shall not have editorial control over the media. Union media shall treat coverage of the elections with due balance and fairness.

49. No candidate shall play any part in the coverage of elections in the media. Leadership Election candidates will be notified of scheduled opportunities to engage with Union media by the Deputy Returning Officer/s.

50. No campaign material shall be released until permitted by the Deputy Returning Officer/s.

51. Candidates shall not advertise:

51.1. on the windows, walls or doors of Union Offices, or within the offices themselves. Exceptions are limited to campaign materials worn or displayed on individuals (e.g., t-shirts or badges).

51.2. within 3 metres of a ballot box, including a digital device for online voting, or service counter.

51.3. on material produced on facilities not available to all candidates from within the University.

51.4. by painting or marking any road, wall or similar surface within the Union or the University, including the use of permanent stickers

52. No publicity material may be affixed in such a way as to interfere with the publicity of another candidate. No candidate may remove or deface the publicity of another candidate. For the avoidance of doubt, each poster is assumed to have one face only.

53. No candidate shall use publicity to primarily promote another candidate in the same election, or to promote a commercial activity.

54. No candidate shall use the Union’s commercial services to promote their candidature.

55. The Deputy Returning Officer shall be responsible for producing all literature with respect to notification of election procedures and timetables. This literature shall include:

55.1. The positions open for election and all rules and conditions governing the election and the conduct of campaigns.

55.2. The opening and closing dates for nominations, and the conditions for nomination.

55.3. The lists of all candidates for all positions open for election.

55.4. The closing date for submission of Leadership Election candidates’ literature, for approval prior to printing and distribution.

55.5. The designated areas in which publicity may be displayed.

55.6. The opening and closing times that voting will be open, where voting will take place and how to vote.

55.7. The date and time at which voting will be closed and The Count conducted.

55.8. Announcing the outcome of The Count.

Campaigning Regulations

56. Only white tac may be used to affix campaign posters. The use of tape or other adhesives is strictly prohibited.

57. Candidates and their campaign teams must not harass, intimidate, or supervise students while they are voting. This includes refraining from standing over voters, engaging with them during the act of online voting or assisting them to vote.

58. Candidates and their campaign teams may not vote on behalf of students, including on electronic devices.

59. Campaign materials, including leaflets and posters, must not be placed inside computing laboratories or library spaces.

60. Candidates must not solicit or accept campaign support from staff members, including student staff while on duty (e.g., bar staff, DJs, or similar roles).

61. Campaign publicity may not be used to promote any other candidate unless all involved candidates are part of an officially declared slate.

62. Campaigning is strictly prohibited in any designated neutral or safe spaces as outlined in the Candidate Handbook or as part of election briefings.

63. Students’ Union resources may not be used to support individual campaigns. This includes physical resources, digital platforms, and staff time.

64. Candidates and their teams must comply with all rules and regulations as set forth by the University, the Students’ Union, and applicable law.

65. Incumbent officers may only utilise resources that are equally accessible to all students. Privileged access through current positions must not be used to gain campaign advantage.

66. Campaigning in any form, except online, is strictly prohibited until the official candidate briefing has taken place.

67. Candidates may not use, loan or purchase electronic devices to serve as online polling stations.

68. The following rules apply to campaign expenditure:

68.1. No candidate may incur or initiate personal expenditure beyond a maximum of £100 in Sabbatical Officer Elections and £50 in all other leadership elections.

68.2. Expenditure must be accounted for and receipts provided for all items; this includes pre-owned, borrowed and hire items.

68.3. Where receipts are not available the item will be costed at the full recommended retail price (RRP) readily available to all candidates.

68.4. Receipts must be submitted to the Deputy Returning Officer’s through the Students’ Union offices prior to the start of the count in any election.

68.5. All expenditure is accrued at the cost of the individual and no monies will be refunded by the Union.

68.6. Where a candidate is running in multiple elections (i.e. a sabbatical and trustee election) there must be a clear separation in the costs associated with each campaign. Candidates cannot use this as an opportunity to amass a larger expenditure limit thereby creating an unfair advantage.

68.7. Where candidates purchase licences as part of their campaign (e.g. software packages) these can be expensed on a pro rata basis, where applicable.

69. Laptops, tablets, and mobile phones may be used for the purpose of creating and distributing campaign materials. However, if these devices are used for other purposes, such as playing music or using paid software e.g. Adobe Photoshop, expenses rules shall apply.

70. No candidate may incur any expenses in any Student Activities or student rep elections.

71. The Union shall provide the following facilities for each candidate:

71.1. Sabbatical Officer Elections - 500 A4 black and white posters (or equivalent)

71.2. All other Leadership Elections - 100 A4 black and white posters (or equivalent)

71.3. Club, Society and Sports team election candidates - No printing

71.4. Rep election candidates - No printing.

72. The Returning Officer may establish and publish other regulations governing the conduct of the campaign

Counting

73. Where the election is for a single post, the Alternative Transferable Vote System shall be used as approved by the Electoral Reform Society.

74. Where the election is for multiple posts, the Single Transferable Vote System shall be used as approved by the Electoral Reform Society.

75. The timing of the count for each position shall be approved by the Deputy Returning Officer prior to the start of polling.

76. For the Leadership Election each candidate will be permitted to nominate one individual to monitor the count on their behalf, who shall not assist in the count.

77. The Returning Officer or Deputy Returning Officer, at their discretion, may initiate a recount and subsequent recounts.

78. Candidates are entitled to a recount if requested, and discretion is given to the Returning Officer or Deputy Returning Officer, to initiate subsequent recounts.

79. The results of all Union elections shall be certified by the Returning Officer.

Conduct, Complaints, Appeals and Results

80. Candidates must conduct themselves in line with the rules laid out in ByeLaw 4: Elections, and “Elections: A Candidates’ Guide”. Candidates breaching these rules will be subject to the disciplinary procedure outlined in Bye-Law 8: Members Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

81. Complaints regarding candidates’ conduct must be submitted in writing with any accompanying evidence to the Deputy Returning Officer/s before the commencement of The Count. Complaints will be dealt with as outlined in “Elections: A Candidates’ Guide” or elsewhere in Bye-Law 4: Elections.

82. The Returning Officer or Deputy Returning Officer/s may take any disciplinary actions that they believe to be reasonable, up to and including disqualification of a candidate.

83. The Returning Officer shall hear any appeals relating to the decisions of the Deputy Returning Officer/s.

84. Any complaint on the conduct of the election or of any violation of Bye-Law 4: Elections, or any other regulations pertaining to elections, shall be made in writing to the Returning Officer before the start of the count or,

84.1. In the case of a complaint relating to the count, within five clear working days from the announcement of results.

84.2. Where the Deputy Returning Officer decides to disqualify a candidate, the candidate will have 10 working days to submit an appeal. The outcome of that appeal will be considered by Returning Officer within a further 15 working days, at which point their decision is final.

85. Any candidate who is declared elected and against whom a complaint is lodged shall be deemed elected until a decision is made on the complaint.

86. All results of elections shall be reported by the next meeting of the Governance Committee. The Returning Officer shall keep all papers pertaining to the election until this meeting, or for one calendar month or until the complaint has been resolved, whichever is the longer period.

Review

87. Bye-Law 4: Elections will be reviewed by the Governance Committee in consultation with Election Planning Committee and any other staff/officers involved in the administration of elections, before being approved by Trustee Board on a timetable set by the Trustee Board.

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Elections

Bye-Law 4 of Bucks Students’ Union