close

running your own election

Running your own election

 

Please note, every year during Easter, the Students' Union run mass elections for clubs and societies to elect new committee members for the following year. This page is not referring to this election. For more information on annual committee elections, please see this page

There may be scenarios when you decide mid-year that your club or society wants to elect a new committee member. This may come about if a committee member drops out of university or steps back from their position, if a committee position was never filled, or if you create a new committee position, for example, you may decide mid-way through the year that a publicity officer would be useful and therefore decide to elect one. 

 

Election rules

If you are running your own election, you need to be aware of these rules:

1. Committee members cannot appoint someone into another committee position. Committee members can only be appointed if you are a new society creating a committee for the first time, or if you are re-activating a previously disbanded society.

2. Committee members must be voted into power by paid members of your student group. Elections must be open for all members, not just committee members.

3. All members of your student group must be given the opportunity to nominate themselves in the election. This means you should send an email, using the messenger function in your admin tools, to all of your members saying how they should nominate themselves and by when. 

 

Running your Own Elections: Two Options

If you want to run an election for your club or society, you have two options:

Option 1

You can use a free platform such as Survey Monkey/ Microsoft Forms/ Google Forms/ Facebook Polls/ Microsoft Teams/ Zoom and send the Students' Union the results. 

 

Option 1 - Pros

  • You are in control of the election meaning the election can be set up and amended quickly. 
  • You receive the results instantly.
  • It does not rely on an SU member of staff to set up, run and count your election.  
  • You have the option of organising a video call where nominees can sell themselves and talk about why they want to be in the committee or what they would do if they won the election

 

Option 1 - Cons

  • Election has to be set up by committee members.
  • Committee members need to have a basic understanding* of Survey Monkey/ Microsoft Forms/ Google Forms/ Facebook Poll. 
  • Committee members need to be vigilant with communication to ensure all members of your student group are aware of the election and aware of how they can nominate themselves, and have access to voting in the election. 

 

Option 1 - Process

  1. Decide the following things as a committee
    • Which positions you want to elect
    • Your election timeline. Decide dates for when nominations open, when nominations close, when voting opens, and when voting closes. We recommend you give your members at least one week to nominate themselves and at least one week to cast their vote. An example election timeline is as followed: Nominations open 1st December 10am. Nominations close 7th December 10pm. Voting opens 8th December 10am. Voting closes 14th December 10pm.  
    • How you want your members to nominate themselves. The easiest way to do this is to ask people to email the president/secretary if they wish to nominate themselves.
    • Whether you want to organise a call before the vote (via Zoom or Teams) where nominees have the option to pitch themselves 
    • Which platform you want to use to take the vote. You could use Survey Monkey/ Microsoft Forms/ Google Forms**
  2. Send an email using your admin tools on the SU website to all of your members alerting them of the election. Let members know what the election timeline. Provide instructions of how members can nominate themselves.
  3. Create the election using the platform of your choice. Add all the nominees to the form so your members can vote for their preferred candidate. An example of a question in your election would look like this: 

    Please select the individual that you like to be Fashion Society's Publicity Officer for the 2020/21 academic year?

             Rob Roberts

             Jemima Jones

             Samuel Smith 

  4. Send an email using your admin tools on the SU website to all of your members with a link to the election. Double check the settings of your election before sending it out to ensure your members are able to cast a vote. 
  5. Once the elections ends and you have a winner, fill in this form to let us know who your new committee member is. Send in proof of your election and proof of the results to [email protected] 
  6. If you the election ends and you have a tie, you can either flip a coin or you can chat to the winners to see if they would like to share the role. This isn't possible if you are running an election for president, treasurer or secretary. 

*These platforms are designed to be very user friendly. You do not need to be technically savvy to be able to use these platforms.

**We only recommend using Facebook polls if you are sure that every paid member of your student group is in the Facebook group/chat. 

 

Option - 2

You can contact the SU and we can set up an election on your society or club webpage, similar to the elections we run for a full committee change but specifically for your club or society. 

 

Option 2 - Pros

  • The SU set up and monitor election, and run the election count, meaning committee members have less to do
  • The election will appear on the bottom of your club or society webpage, meaning it is accessible for all student group members
  • Members are familiar with this style of election

 

Option 2 - Cons

  • It takes longer as the opportunities team have to make time to set up, monitor and run the election count. We need two weeks notice for any election you wish to run through the SU website.
  • Committee members still have to be involved in the election. Committee members have to let the SU know their election timeline and let us know when nominations open and close, and when voting should open and close. 
  • Committee members have to be vigilant with vigilant with communication to ensure all members of your student group are aware of the election taking place on your webpage and are familiar with the nominations and voting period. The SU will not message your members regarding your election; this is the responsibility of committee members. 
  • You do not have the option of organising a video call where nominees can sell themselves and talk about why they want to be in the committee or what they would do if they won the election

 

Option 2 - Process

  1. Decide the following things as a committee
    • Which positions you want to elect
    • Your election timeline. Decide dates for when nominations open, when nominations close, when voting opens, and when voting closes. We recommend you give your members at least one week to nominate themselves and at least one week to cast their vote. An example election timeline is as followed: Nominations open 1st December 10am. Nominations close 7th December 10pm. Voting opens 8th December 10am. Voting closes 14th December 10pm. 
  2. Contact [email protected] and ask us to set up your election. Tell us what your preferred election timeline is. Please wait for confirmation from the SU before advertising your election. Please also be aware that during busy periods, such as at the start of semesters, that it may take us up to 10 days to get to your email.
  3. Once you have confirmation from the SU that we will set up your election, send an email using your admin tools on the SU website to all of your members alerting them of the election. Let members know what the election timeline. Provide instructions of how members can nominate themselves.
    • Members can nominate themselves by going to the election at the bottom of your SU webpage. Members can vote by going to the election at the bottom of your SU webpage. Only paid members will be able to nominate themselves or vote in the election.
  4. Once the elections ends, the SU will alert committee members what the results are. The SU will automatically grant admin rights for the new committee member.