Student Elections: Campaigning 101

YOUR STUDENTS’

ASSOCIATION

Everything you need to know about: CAMPAIGNING 1

CONTENTS 3 5 7 8 10 14 15 15

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WELCOME CREATING A MANIFESTO KEY PRINCIPALS CAMPAIGNING TIPS RULES OF CAMPAIGNING WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU WHO’S WHO? 2011 VUWSA GENERAL ELECTION TIMETABLE

WELCOME WELCOME TO THE 2011 VUWSA GENERAL ELECTION. THANK YOU FOR NOMINATING YOURSELF AS A CANDIDATE FOR THIS ELECTION.

During the Election period you will have the chance to develop a significant number of skills which, whether you win or lose, will undoubtedly be of value to you in whatever you choose to do for a career.

Running an election campaign involves project management, time management, presentation skills, leadership, assertiveness, problem solving, creativity, personal discipline, and a wide range of other key skills.

How much you take advantage of this opportunity is up to you. It is a fact, however, that no candidate has ever won any election purely by just putting themselves forward, no matter how many friends they might think they have.

Whether you think you are the hot favourite, or have no chance, the reality is that at this stage pretty much everyone is even. Good luck and may the best person win.

In this information pack you will find as much relevant information as we can muster on the VUWSA Elections. There may be some areas we have not mentioned so if you are unsure about anything or need more information then please ask.

It will be assumed, by the Returning Officer and VUWSA, that you have read all information within this document before campaigning starts and therefore ignorance of any of the detail will be no excuse if anyone lodges a complaint against you – so please take the time to read all applicable information.

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WELCOME There are a number of paradoxes which are important to get your head around before you start: 1.

It is the job of those running the campaign to make the playing field as level as possible.

2. Every candidate tries to find a way to get advantage over the other candidates.

3. Playing fields are never level, no matter what you do.

The Returning Officer will always try to ensure that any rulings made consider whether someone has deliberately tried to get unfair advantage in their actions. If this is the case then they will normally take action. This may include anything up to total disqualification from the elections.

If it is the case that someone has a slight advantage, due to something like their current position or their membership of a particular club, then it is unlikely that this fact alone will be considered an unfair advantage.

The golden rule throughout the Elections is that if you are even slightly unsure of anything then please ask. I am here to assist you and to provide you with all the available tools and advice during your campaign. I wish you all the very best.

Good luck and happy campaigning!

Jamie Beckers VUWSA Returning Officer

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Creating a MANIFESTO Your ‘manifesto’ is the key document to get across your message of who you are and what you stand for. It is the only information that voters will have about you printed in the Salient election supplement and during polling week.

1. Start with you Think about what would influence you to vote for someone. What do you believe? What are the issues of interest to students? Do you believe that transport to the university should be improved? There should be better sports facilities? Whatever they are, make a list of your beliefs.

2. Be honest You need to select the ones that you think would be popular with students, but are also achievable. It is easy to ‘promise’ things, like making the beer cheaper. It’s how you actually ‘deliver’ though that really matters.

3. Remember what you are running for Each officer position has a specific and often autonomous job, so if you’re running for Campaign Officer, then don’t start promising things to do with the Rec Centre. Or if you’re running for Environment Officer don’t start promising things to do with vicbooks or The Hunter Lounge.

4. ‘The Golden Three’ Long manifestos are good, but aren’t punchy. Select three items/ issues off your list as priorities that you will concentrate on. And be snappy with your promotional materials. Students tend to scan read, so include your detail but in a punchy format.

5. Who are you?

Candidates tend to forget to tell the voters anything about themselves. Students will often vote for candidates who have something in common with them.

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Creating a MANIFESTO QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT WHEN WRITING YOUR MANIFESTO As a starting point, please consider the points below. This will provide you with some basic topics to think about. These may not necessarily be in your manifesto, but thinking about them may help you to focus your campaign.

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Consider the role you would be undertaking, and list at least six objectives for the forthcoming year. These objectives can be either personal or work-related.

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Now think about VUWSA in its entirety. What, in your opinion, should be the objectives for the organisation over the next year?

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VUWSA as an organisation is very unique. What do you think makes it unique?

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In terms of facilities, services and opportunities, what can we offer students that other organisations in Wellington cannot?

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In your opinion, what do students expect from VUWSA?

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What do you think will motivate students to get involved with VUWSA?

Key PRINCIPALS VUWSA wishes to encourage the active involvement and creativity of students in the electoral process. VUWSA requires fairness in its election process and appoints a Returning OfďŹ cer and Election Committee to achieve this.

The success of the Elections is largely dependent upon you the candidates. It is your ability to successfully promote yourself and to engage and convince students to vote that will get them to the ballot box.

All candidates are expected to promote the Elections in addition to their own campaign. It is important that, as candidates, you are aware of all the elections that are going on and understand why and how they relate to each other. When you are campaigning you will undoubtedly be asked about the Elections and VUWSA in general.

It will not look good if you are not aware of all the elections that are going on.

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Campaigning TIPS Campaigning is fun but can be tricky, so if you can’t make it to the candidate briefing workshop then here are just a few tips.

Read the rules!

The Elections Schedule is a long old read, but it is important that you know exactly what the rules are, in full, so you don’t get caught out.

How are you unique?

There may be several other candidates running for the same position as you, so what makes you different? Think about how you can stand out from the crowd, how are you going to ‘brand’ your campaign and ideas.

Target Market While you need to promote yourself and the Elections to as many students as possible it may be beneficial to ensure that you contact specific groups. Are there certain groups that could have a specific interest in the position you are running for? How can you contact them? Have you addressed their needs/concerns in your manifesto?

That said it is also important to realise that some students may not agree with some of your ideas.

Be concise Concentrate on a few key ideas; be aware that voters may not be able to take the time to read masses of text. Outline the issue and what you will do about it if elected.

Use your time wisely You will not be able to campaign 100% of the time; plan where and when is the most effective use of your time. How does this fit with the groups of students who you aim to speak to?

Get a campaigns Team Get your friends to help you; you can cover more ground this way.

Make sure everyone knows the plan; they are speaking on your behalf and need to know what your manifesto points are. They are subject to the rules of the Election and it is down to you to make sure they know and abide by the rules.

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Campaigning TIPS Be innovative Stand out from the crowd, however, you need to stay within the rules of the elections, if in doubt ASK. The Returning Officer will be happy to help with any questions you may have.

Make a positive personal impression Posters and flyers do not win elections, speaking face to face with people do. Look at ways that you can address several people at one time.

Remember they need to have a positive impression of you, bad mouthing other candidates is NOT the way to do this. Negative or offensive comments or actions against any other candidate or campaign team will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action as determined by the Returning Officer.

Lecture Bash!

Lecture speaking is one of the most effective ways at getting your name and face out there. Get to a lecture a few minutes before it is scheduled to start and ask the lecturer if you can say a few words to the class. Always respect their decisions. Take flyers/manifestos to lectures and leave them there. Students love things to read.

Facebook You aren’t going to find a better and easier online tool than Facebook. Get a group page going and get your message out. Like all other campaign material – all your campaign Facebook and social media must be removed once voting has opened.

The Voting Period Once polls open no candidate may campaign or solicit votes from students. Polling opens at 9am on Monday 26 September and closes at 4.30pm on Thursday 29 September.

All students will be emailed an invitation to vote and a copy of the Election Supplement contained in that week’s edition of Salient.

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Rules of CAMPAIGNING Towards the back of this document you will find a copy of the election regulation from the Constitution. The following sections are for additional clarification and answer many of the FAQs from the candidates briefing. As always the golden rule is, if you are unsure, ask!

All campaign material must be approved by the Returning Officer prior to being released publicly. All unapproved material must be removed from campus.

Social media pages/group names/websites must be registered with the Returning Officer. All groups must be open and accessible to all i.e. no closed discussions.

WHAT IS CAMPAIGNING? Campaigning must not commence before 12.01am, Monday 19 September. This means that no flyers, posters, social media pages or groups, items of clothing associated to a candidate’s campaign or other means of written publicity can be displayed before this time.

Please note that conversations are not included in this definition of campaigning and communication via electronic means is deemed as conversation NOT written material and therefore is permitted e.g. conversations on Facebook or emails to friends.

Specifically;

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You can set up a Facebook group or page to outline the fact that you are running in the election before official campaigning commences.

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You cannot publish your manifesto online, ask people to vote for you or launch a specific campaign website (e.g. www.votejoe.com) before official campaigning commences.

Rules of CAMPAIGNING WHERE CAN I CAMPAIGN? The legitimate areas for campaigning are those areas around the University which will be identified in the candidates briefing session.

If you wish to campaign (e.g. lecture speaking or speaking in Halls of Residence) in any other Victoria University of Wellington building or halls of residence, you must seek prior permission from those relevant parties.

Remember, because VUWSA recognises that these areas are legitimate areas does not mean that you can automatically poster and flyer everywhere. You must seek the express permission of anyone that controls any areas that you wish to campaign in.

Please remember that you are representing VUWSA in this campaign. Please do not disrespect our reputation. Any complaint received by the Returning Officer by any external agency will be viewed as extremely serious.

PUBLICITY VUWSA invests a lot of time, effort and resources into promoting elections. The onus is now on you to promote yourself and encourage people to vote.

The publicity you can use is entirely up to you as long as it stays within all rules and regulations, but you may not use any VUWSA branding except the official publicity template. You are responsible for any publicity associated with your campaign. This includes cleaning up and removing your materials at the end of the campaign period. It is not acceptable for you to leave all your publicity up after the ballot opens. Please be responsible and spend some time before Monday 26 September clearing up your publicity.

Please respect limited space on pin boards and other public displays.

Do not plaster the whole board with your posters to the point no other candidate can put theirs up. Also please respect other nonelection related posters e.g. flat listings. These can often be moved to make way for your material.

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Rules of CAMPAIGNING EMAILS, TEXTING, PHONE CALLS, WEBSITE FORUMS AND GENERAL USE OF PERSONAL DATA In previous years we have had a lot of trouble with the University over the misuse of emails which ultimately led to the disqualification of candidates.

Legally, you are not permitted to use any personal data you might have access to for any use other than that for which it was originally intended.

If just one person complains to the Returning Officer that you or any member of your campaign team have abused their personal data then the Returning Officer will have to act.

In terms of social networking, i.e. Facebook or websites are concerned; the Returning Officer has ruled that the page/group name/website must be registered with them. All groups must be open and accessible to all i.e. no closed discussions. Negative content about other candidates is not permitted, in the case of any complaints the Returning Officers decision is final.

All online campaigning is deemed to be official and done with the permission of the candidate concerned. This includes posts made by campaign teams even if it is not endorsed by the candidate; it is therefore the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that their campaign team are aware of all the rules.

EXPENSES The election rules quite clearly state how much each candidate can spend on their election. Even if you are using your own money in the election you must provide receipts in a sealed envelope with the name and position you are running for to the Returning Officer.

Without these receipts you may not be able to complete the election and could be disqualified.

Candidates may spend no more than $100 in election expenses.

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Rules of CAMPAIGNING You must account for all materials you use. You may not accept donations or sponsorship which might be termed a gift. Anything you use must be a true cost value to your expenses so if you are using materials you already have you must allocate them a realistic value. Expenses can only be paid for those items you have a receipt for.

One exception to this is where you choose to use transport to get around. You may do this at your leisure.

USE OF VUWSA BRANDING It is not permitted for you to use any VUWSA branding in your campaign as this could lead to the perception that VUWSA was endorsing your candidature. VUWSA will provide you with a template that contains information about the election and voting instructions that are aimed at promoting the elections. This template must be used unaltered in your publicity either in print or online.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE? If you have an issue or a question at any time then please ask the Returning Officer as quickly as possible. In all matters relating to the election the Returning Officer’s decision is final.

VOTE

S G G O L JOE B – FOR –

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T N E D PRESI 13

What we need FROM YOU It is important that you regularly check the VUWSA website and Facebook, and familiarise yourself with the election pages, and constantly check your emails for updates from us.

Please remember that candidates must submit the following documents for publication on the VUWSA website and the Salient Election Supplement to returning.officer@vuwsa.org.nz by 5pm Friday 16 September.

1.

Your manifesto (500 words for President, 400 for Vice-President and 300 for General Executive roles). This must be a word document written in unformatted text only. Images, formatting table etc. cannot be accepted.

For tips on writing yours see the Manifesto section of this guide. Your manifesto is your chance to let voters know who you are and what you stand for, what will you do if elected, what are the problems as you see them, what will you change? It is worth spending time finding out what the issues are and what, if anything, can be done about them.

2. A photo for the ballot paper and overall promotion of the elections. You must come into the VUWSA office to have your photo taken.

3. The URL link to your Facebook page or group or online presence.

Please see the following information on ‘What is campaigning’ for more details.

If you do not submit any of the above we will need to post “nothing submitted” against your name – which is quite inconvenient so please try to be as proactive as possible.

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Who’s WHO? Your main point of contact will be the Returning Officer so in the first instance please contact them.

Returning Officer Jamie Beckers

Email: returning.officer@vuwsa.org.nz

Election Committee The Election Committee is independent of the VUWSA Executive and oversees the coordination of the Election.

The Election Committee comprises of Mark Maguire, Alexander Neilson and Robert Whitaker.

2011 VUWSA General Election Timetable MONTH

MON

TUES

August

22

23

WED

THURS

FRI

24

25

26

1

2

8

9

Candidate Nominations open 9am

29

30

31

Sept.

5

6

12

13

19

20

7 14

15

16

Candidate Nominations close 4:30pm

Candidate Briefing

Candidate Manifesto submitted to RO by 5pm

21

22

23

29

30

Candidate Forum SU217 & 218

26 Polling opens 9am

27

28

Polling closes 4:30pm & results announced

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YOUR STUDENTS’

ASSOCIATION

Level 2, Student Union Building (04) 463 6716 kelburn@vuwsa.org.nz www.vuwsa.org.nz facebook.com/vuwsa