Election Regulations
1 General
2 The Returning Officer
3 Nominations
4 Campaigning
5 Election
6 Voting
7 Administration
8 Candidates
9 Tenure of Office
10 Complaints and Appeals
1.1 The elections of the President and Vice-Presidents (together being the “Sabbatical Officers”) and any other elected officers of the Association (“Elections”) shall be carried out in accordance with these regulations.
1.2 The Association’s administrative staff shall implement the Election process.
1.3 The Elections shall be by secret ballot of all Ordinary Members of the Association.
2.1 A returning officer for the Elections (“Returning Officer”) shall be appointed by the Executive Board and shall not be a member of the Association, or a member of staff of the Association.
2.2 The Returning Officer may appoint nominees to act on his behalf in the day-to-day supervision of the Elections.
2.3 Acting on behalf of the Returning Officer the Association’s administrative staff shall carry out the following functions:
2.3.1 overseeing the procedure for the acceptance of nominations and the determination and publication of valid nominations;
2.3.2 fixing the date of the Elections, the publication of notices giving information about the date of the Elections and the arrangements for the Elections;
2.3.3 supervision and conduct of the count; and
2.3.4 overseeing the announcement of the result.
3.1 All Ordinary Members are eligible to stand as a candidate for election.
3.2 Candidates may stand for election to more than one post within the same election.
3.3 Any candidate standing for more than one post must complete a separate nomination form for each post.
3.4 A candidate’s nomination form must be signed by at least 30 Ordinary Members and a sabbatical nomination form shall be accompanied by a letter of confirmation of suitability from the candidate’s Head of School.
3.5 No member may sign the nomination form of more than one candidate.
3.6 The Returning Officer will post a notice within each University School and on the Association’s web site at least fourteen days before the date on which nominations open stating the;
3.6.1 period for nominations,
3.6.2 posts for which nominations can be made,
3.6.3 places from which nomination forms can be obtained and
3.6.4 places to which completed nomination forms must be returned.
3.7 Each completed nomination form may be accompanied by a manifesto prepared by the candidate consisting of not more than one hundred words and a photograph (both preferably in electronic format). The nomination period shall run for fourteen days and shall close at 2 p.m. fourteen days before the election date.
3.8 On closing of the nominations, the Association administrative staff will inspect all nominations and manifestos and verify that they comply with the rules regarding nomination forms and signatures.
3.9 The Association administrative staff will draw up a list of candidates after the close of nominations and will post a notice within each University School and on the Association web site at least fourteen days before the date of the election stating the date of the election and the arrangements for voting.
3.10 Where appropriate the Returning Officer may allow electronic voting to take place in tandem or instead of with manual voting procedures.
4.1 Within seven days of the close of nominations a list of valid nominations and manifestos will be published and distributed within each School and on the Association web site.
4.2 The campaigning period shall commence on the date of publication of nominations and shall end on the day preceding the election date.
4.3 Any coverage of the Elections by the Association shall be fair and balanced providing equal exposure to all candidates, as far as practicable.
4.4 Each candidate may receive a small budget from the Association for canvassing materials and no other monies shall be spent on canvassing by the candidate.
4.5 No offensive or derogatory election material may be produced during the campaign.
4.6 The Returning Officer and Association’s administrative staff reserve the right to remove any inappropriate election material.
4.7 “Hustings” shall be held on the night preceding the Elections and shall be chaired by a nominee of the Returning Officer.
4.8 Each candidate is expected to attend “Hustings”.
5.1 The Elections shall be held on the Thursday of the sixth week of the second semester provided that if for any reason the Elections cannot be held on that date they will be held no later than the second Thursday in April.
5.2 In the event that not all posts are filled at the Elections or any postponement of them, it shall be permissible to hold further elections in order that such posts might be filled. The decision whether or not to hold such further elections shall be at the discretion of the Returning Officer.
5.3 In such cases any further election must take place by the third Thursday in November and the same procedures for nominations and campaigning shall apply as set out in Sections 3 and 4 of these regulations.
6.1 The responsibility for ensuring that the voting is conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Section 6 shall rest with the Returning Officer.
6.2 Voting shall take place at the appropriate voting stations or electronically at times to be determined by the Returning Officer.
6.3 The location and arrangements of voting stations and the list of candidates shall be publicised within each school and on the Association web site.
6.4 Ordinary members of the Association may vote on production of a valid University matriculation card.
6.5 The polling officer shall ensure that all matriculation cards are current and valid and do not already bear the mark being used at the election in question.
6.6 The polling officer shall mark the matriculation card of the Ordinary Member who is voting. Different shaped marks shall be used at each election.
6.7 Votes shall be cast in sealed ballot boxes or by electronic means where appropriate. All voting slips issued shall be placed in the sealed ballot box at the time of voting whether used or not.
6.8 Ballot papers shall bear the name of each candidate, the position being contested and a suitable space for indicating the voting preference of the voter. Each voter may vote either for only one candidate by placing an “X” opposite the candidate’s name or may vote by placing all or some of the candidates in order of preference by marking a number “1”, “2” or “3” etc. in the appropriate box. Where a number of vacancies exist on one ballot paper, each voter may not vote for more than the number of vacancies which exist. Ballot papers shall bear a brief description of the voting procedure.
6.9 There shall be an option on the ballot paper entitled “Re-Open Nominations” (“RON”).
6.9.1 RON, for the purposes of the count, shall be treated as a candidate, though it will not be allowed the publicity allowed to the other candidates in the election.
6.9.2 If RON wins the election, then the election shall be re-run at a date to be determined by the Returning Officer.
6.9.3 In the event of a re-run of the election RON shall appear as an option on the ballot paper.
6.10 Those Ordinary Members who are unable to vote in person due to illness or unavoidable absence from the University, shall be eligible to vote as follows:
6.10.1 the member shall provide Association administrative staff prior to the election their matriculation card and evidence as to why they are unable to vote on the prescribed polling day;
6.10.2 if satisfied with the evidence, Association staff will provide the member with an envelope containing a ballot paper to be completed and returned in a sealed envelope which shall then be held by the Association administrative staff along with a photocopy of the member’s matriculation card; and
6.10.3 all such envelopes containing ballot papers shall be presented to the Returning Officer following completion of voting on the election day.
7.1 The Returning Officer and the senior member of the Association’s administrative staff shall administer the count.
7.2 Candidates are not allowed to be present at the count, but may appoint a scrutineer on their behalf.
7.3 The Association’s administrative staff shall appoint polling officers and counters.
7.4 On opening the ballot boxes, the Returning Officer will instruct all counters to examine the voting papers.
7.5 Papers will be declared spoiled by the Returning Officer if:
7.5.1 the paper has clearly been defaced/vandalised; or
7.5.2 there is no clear indication of selection for any candidate; or
7.5.3 if the paper has not been stamped by the polling officer; or
7.5.4 if the Returning Officer is satisfied that the paper is not authentic.
7.6 A quota will be calculated as follows:
7.6.1 where one position is to be filled, the quota will be one half of all votes cast plus one;
7.6.2 if the quota calculated in this way contains a fraction, fractions of .5 or less will be rounded down and fractions of more than .5 will be rounded up; and
7.6.3 where more than one position is to be filled there will be no quota and the positions will be filled by those candidates who obtain the most votes.
7.7 If the candidate reaches the quota on the first count then he/she will be deemed to be elected to that post.
7.8 If no candidate has reached the quota, the votes cast for the last placed candidate shall be re-allocated between the remaining candidates on the basis of the second preference expressed (if any).
7.9 If no candidate has yet reached the quota, the process will be repeated using the further preferences expressed (if any) of the voters whose votes for the last placed candidate are to be re-allocated until either one candidate reaches the quota or there are two candidates left.
7.10 If the quota has still not been reached, the victor will be declared on the basis of the higher number of votes cast.
7.11 In the event that the count results in their being less than ten votes of a difference, there shall be an automatic recount.
7.12 In the event that one person is the winning candidate in more than one post, he/she shall chose one post, and the remaining post(s) will be filled by the next placed candidate who has reached the quota or is the winner under sub-paragraph 7.6.3 and is not otherwise a successful candidate.
7.13 The Returning Officer shall be responsible for announcing and publicising the results of the election.
7.14 The candidates, if in attendance at the announcement of the election, shall be notified of the result before the announcement.
8.1 Candidates already in office shall be given the same privileges and restrictions as the other candidates in the election.
9.1 The tenure of office for the Sabbatical Officers shall be a 12 month period commencing 1st August.
9.2 Incoming Sabbatical Officers shall have a one month training period prior to start of tenure.
9.3 The Sabbatical Officers may stand for re-election at the close of their first tenure of office.
9.4 The maximum period of office, which may be held by the Sabbatical Officers, is two tenures.
9.5 There shall be no restriction on the number of times that other officers may stand for re-election.
10.1 The procedure for the consideration of complaints relating to Elections shall be as follows:
10.1.1 no one involved in a candidate’s campaign shall be involved in the appeals procedure;
10.1.2 only complaints by a candidate or one of his nominators shall be considered;
10.1.3 complaints shall be submitted to the Returning Officer for consideration; and
10.1.4 the Returning Officer shall investigate any complaint and report the findings to the Board who shall decide what action shall be taken including the disqualification of any candidate concerned or the annulment of the election.