The Rules
During the election period you have to behave in a fair and reasonable way. A good way to think about campaigning is “would I be upset if I saw my opponent doing what I am doing?”
There are some key events during the election which you must attend or else you will be removed from the ballot. You will be sent information about these meetings via email.
There are a few rules you must be aware of:
Budgets:
The most you can spend is £100. However only £80 of this will be reimbursed to you. If you spend over £100’s the Deputy Returning Officer will be informed and you may be expelled from the race.
However if you are running as an NUS representative you may only spend £50, £40’s of this will be returned to you.
You must return all your receipts (for things which you have spent money on in the election) by 2pm on the 11th March.
Holding a position of responsibility:
It is not possible for a candidate to hold a position of responsibility during the elections. This means that if you are involved in a club or society in an influential role (Chair, Social Secretary, etc.) you must step down from this position on the 4th of March until the end of the elections on the 11th of March. You are still able to participate in the club/ society activates, such as attending meetings and playing sport but you can not run or deliver that activity. Similarly Course Reps / School Representative Co-ordinator, you will also need to pause your activity and responsibilities form the 4th of March until the end of election on the 11th of March. This simply means you won’t be able to attend meeting and undertake other activity with in your role as Course Reps / School Representative Co-ordinator during this time.
If you are employed by the Union, work in the bar or as a Frontrunner for example, you must speak to your line manager regarding running in the elections. If possible discuss managing your hours to work around the election time period, if this isn’t possible you may work during the election period, however you can not discuss, mention or use your role to support your elections. If you are seen to be doing this, it could result in being removed from the elections and discipline action being taken by line managers. Any current Part-time and Full-time Executive Officers that are seeking re-election must stand down from their role from the 4 March till the 11 March.
Dual posts
Generally you can only run for one position. However it is possible to run for the NUS representative position and one other post.
The SU is neutral
The Students’ Union remains neutral. No member of staff may support your campaign or send out any sort of communications on your behalf. The Students’ Union will be advertising the elections (but not individual candidates) and the Student Voice Team will offer advice and support to all candidates. You must not use the DSU or DMU logo.
If you have any questions or concerns about the election rules then let us know. You can email any of the people below and they will answer your questions.
|
Who
|
Contact details
|
When to contact
|
|
The Student Voice team
|
Voice@dmu.ac.uk
|
When ever you have any quick questions about the elections
|
|
Elgan Hughes- Election Official
|
Elgan.hughes@dmu.ac.uk
|
If you have any concerns about the elections Elgan is your first point of contact
|
|
Colina Wright – Deputy Returning officer
|
ccwright@dmu.ac.uk
|
Colina should be contacted if you have any major concerns about the fairness of the election
|
Posters, Manifestos, and campaigning
All candidates in elections must have a manifesto. This is a 300 word or less, document which tells students why you want the post and what you would do if you win. If you do not a submit a manifesto by the deadline then you will not be able to run in the elections. If you want any advice or support in writing your manifesto then email voice@dmu.ac.uk
You manifesto is the last thing that students will see before voting, so it’s important.
You can also make posters and leaflets which can be used to publicises your campaign. Poster can only be put up in Level One of the Campus Centre, in the Students’ Union area, and on the designated poster boards provided by the University. Poster found in unapproved areas might be taken down by the University and local council. Remember Mill Lane is a public space, so please don’t put posters on lamp posts, phone boxes, and or post boxes.
All of your posters and leaflets should be submitted to the Student Voice Team before they are printed.
You will be given a logo to put on your posters so that they students and the University know it’s an official election poster.
Campaigning
Campaigning is the art of identifying the right people to speak to and the right issues to talk about. Campaigning is vital if you are going to win the elections. Statistics suggest that you have to hand out 172 leaflets to persuade one person to vote for you, whereas you only have to talk to 14 people to earn a vote. Remember use your time wisely. It’s also a good idea to identify students who have influence on how others vote. In the pass successful candidates have spoke to the heads of clubs and societies, course representatives and people in Demon media. Sometimes persuading a handful of influential people can gain you many votes.
You can also create campaign videos and put them online. Please let the Student Voice Team see your video before campaigning starts.
You may take tablets or laptops for people to vote on when you are campaigning, but do not pressure people into voting for you and give people space to vote. Basically use common sense.
Please be aware that any individual found to have been campaigning in the Library, Queen Elizabeth II, Prayer and Faith spaces on Campus, and Demon Studios & Office, harassing other candidates or students, misusing the computer facilities or any other activity deemed to present a perceived or real attempt to manipulate the outcome of the elections will be investigated and subjected to disciplinary measures; this is to ensure fairness within the elections.
Voting
All voting takes place online at www.demotfortstudents.com/elections.
We use a system called Single Alternative Transferable Voting (STV). This means you need to get 50% +1 of the votes to win. If a candidate does not achieve this then the candidates with the least votes are eliminated until one candidate has an absolute majority.
If you have any questions about the voting system then please email voice@dmu.ac.uk