February Election Rules (Officer Roles)
Students at Huddersfield value loyalty and respect. All campaigning will reflect these values, enabling a fair election to take place. It is not impossible to provide a set of rules and regulations that cover every potential scenario that could happen during an election campaign, however when investigating conduct, incidents or complaints, the Deputy Returning Officer and Returning Officer will make a judgement based on the ethos expressed in Byelaw 6, Section 7.1 of the Union’s Constitution:
All candidates must conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the values of the Students’ Union, our equal opportunities policy, and the code of conduct of the University.
General
Voting will be open between the hours of:
•Monday 12 February, 10am – 9pm
•Tuesday 13 February, 8am – 9pm
•Wednesday 14 February 8am – 4pm.
The elections will be overseen by the Returning Officer, who will be provided by the NUS. The Returning Officer will delegate responsibility to the Deputy Returning Officer, who will be a senior member of Students’ Union staff.
Both individuals are empowered to investigate any matters related to the election, infringement of election rules or complaints regarding candidate conduct. If he or she finds that there has been an infringement they may:
•Warn the candidate that any future infringement will result in a fine or disqualification;
•Fine the candidate from and up to the maximum of his or her publicity budget;
•Restrict campaigning;
•Provide a sanction to the candidate;
•Disqualify the candidate.
All candidates and campaigners must attend a compulsory briefing session with the Deputy Returning Officer.
All candidates must sign a declaration form confirming their eligibility to be a Trustee, failure to do so will result in their automatic removal from the elections process.
Campaigning
Permission must be obtained from the University before placing any posters/banners around the campus. This can usually be obtained from School Offices or from the Estates Department.
In order to respect the needs of students, all campaigning is strictly forbidden in the Faith Centre and in the Library.
Candidates and campaigners must not be within 3 metres of any student casting their vote, this is to allow voters the opportunity to cast their vote in private, and under no circumstances must votes be cast on a voter’s behalf. Any students experiencing issues while voting should be referred to a member of SU Staff.
All campaigners will need to register as a candidate supporter. Each candidate will be restricted to 10 campaigners. All campaigners must have their photo taken by the SU, be a current student and campaign wearing an elections lanyard provided by the SU.
Candidates must attend a compulsory debrief meeting with the Deputy Returning Officer on Wednesday 14th February, and then remove all posters/banners etc. from campus within two hours of voting closing.
Election Resource Pack
To ensure that as many candidates as possible can take part in the elections the following resources will be made available upon request to all candidates:
•25 x A3 colour posters
•400 x A6 black and white leaflets with candidates branding (choice of coloured paper)
•1 x Candidate t shirt
•5 x Campaigner t-shirts
•1 x large white fabric banner
•1 x tube of paint
•1 x ball of string
•1 x pack of marker pens
•1 x pack of blue tack
All publicity for printing must be handed in to the Student Voice Team by 30 January.
Finances
In addition to the resources provided in the election resource packs, candidates are allowed to spend up to £75 of their own money on campaign resources (non-refundable).
Candidates must provide a clear, itemised breakdown of all costs associated to their campaign including all receipts to the Deputy Returning Officer by 9am 15 February.
Candidates may not accept monetary or material sponsorship from any source to assist with their campaign.
Slates
Candidates must not form a team with other candidates to run a joint campaign. This includes having joint branding, names or posters.
Complaints
Any complaints about candidate and campaigner conduct must be submitted within 24 hours of the alleged incident, via the official online complaints form, and will include the following information:
•Name and contact details of person making complaint (anonymous complaints will not be considered, and cannot be evidenced by a third party)
•Name of candidate being complained about
•Details of incident (including time and date)
•Details of any witnesses
•Details of which rules have been broken
•Details of the action requested
All complaints will be investigated by the Deputy Returning Officer, who will consider the evidence and make an appropriate decision. This ruling will be communicated to all parties involved and included in the annual Deputy Returning Officer’s Elections Report.
Any decisions made by the Deputy Returning Officer can be appealed within 24 hours of the decision via a written statement to the Returning Officer (and must include factual information as to why the original decision is considered unjust).
Any decisions made by the Returning Officer are final.
All complaints must be received within 24 hours of voting closing. Any complaints considered after this time will not be investigated as part of the elections process (although they may be considered under the provision of Byelaw Nine of the Students’ Union Constitution).
Sanctions available to the Deputy Returning Officer include, but are not limited to, bans from campaigning for an allocated period of time, public statements of sanction by Students’ Union via website and social media, and confiscation of campaign materials.
February Election Rules (SAE)
Students at Huddersfield value loyalty and respect. All campaigning will reflect these values, enabling a fair election to take place. It is not impossible to provide a set of rules and regulations that cover every potential scenario that could happen during an election campaign, however when investigating conduct, incidents or complaints, the Deputy Returning Officer and Returning Officer will make a judgment based on the ethos expressed in Byelaw 6, Section 7.1 of the Union’s Constitution:
All candidates must conduct themselves in a manner that reflects the values of the Students’ Union, our equal opportunities policy, and the code of conduct of the University.
General
Voting will be open between the hours of:
•Monday 12 February, 10am – 9pm
•Tuesday 13 February, 8am – 9pm
•Wednesday 14 February 8am – 4pm.
The elections will be overseen by the Returning Officer, who will be provided by the NUS. The Returning Officer will delegate responsibility to the Deputy Returning Officer, who will be a senior member of Students’ Union staff.
Both individuals are empowered to investigate any matters related to the election, infringement of election rules or complaints regarding candidate conduct. If he or she finds that there has been an infringement they may:
•Warn the candidate that any future infringement will result in a fine or disqualification;
•Fine the candidate from and up to the maximum of his or her publicity budget;
•Restrict campaigning;
•Provide a sanction to the candidate;
•Disqualify the candidate.
All candidates and campaigners must attend a compulsory briefing session with the Deputy Returning Officer.
Campaigning
Permission must be obtained from the University before placing any posters/banners around the campus. This can usually be obtained from School Offices or from the Estates Department.
In order to respect the needs of students, all campaigning is strictly forbidden in the Faith Centre and in the Library.
Candidates and campaigners must not be within 3 metres of any student casting their vote, this is to allow voters the opportunity to cast their vote in private, and under no circumstances must votes be cast on a voter’s behalf. Any students experiencing issues while voting should be referred to a member of SU Staff.
All campaigners will need to register as a candidate supporter. Each candidate will be restricted to 10 campaigners. All campaigners must have their photo taken by the SU, be a current student and campaign wearing a lanyard.
Candidates must attend a compulsory debrief meeting with the Deputy Returning Officer and then remove all posters/banners etc. from campus within two hours of voting closing.
Election Resource Pack
To ensure that as many candidates as possible can take part in the elections the following resources will be made available upon request to all candidates:
•25 x A3 colour posters
•400 x A6 black and white leaflets with candidates branding (choice of coloured paper)
•1 x Candidate t shirt
•1 x large white fabric banner
•1 x tube of paint
•1 x ball of string
•1 x pack of marker pens
•1 x pack of blue tack
All publicity for printing must be handed in to the Student Voice Team by 30 January.
Finances
In addition to the resources provided in the election resource packs, candidates are allowed to spend up to £25 of their own money on campaign resources (non-refundable).
Candidates must provide a clear, itemised breakdown of all costs associated to their campaign including all receipts to the Deputy Returning Officer by 9am Thursday 15 February.
Candidates may not accept monetary or material sponsorship from any source to assist with their campaign.
Slates
Candidates must not form a team with other candidates to run a joint campaign. This includes having joint branding, names or posters.
Complaints
Any complaints about candidate and campaigner conduct must be submitted within 24 hours of the alleged incident, via the official online complaints form, and will include the following information:
•Name and contact details of person making complaint (anonymous complaints will not be considered, and cannot be evidenced by a third party)
•Name of candidate being complained about
•Details of incident (including time and date)
•Details of any witnesses
•Details of which rules have been broken
•Details of the action requested
All complaints will be investigated by the Deputy Returning Officer, who will consider the evidence and make an appropriate decision. This ruling will be communicated to all parties involved and included in the annual Deputy Returning Officer’s Elections Report.
Any decisions made by the Deputy Returning Officer can be appealed within 24 hours of the decision via a written statement to the Returning Officer (and must include factual information as to why the original decision is considered unjust).
Any decisions made by the Returning Officer are final.
All complaints must be received within 24 hours of voting closing. Any complaints considered after this time will not be investigated as part of the elections process (although they may be considered under the provision of Byelaw Nine of the Students’ Union Constitution).
Sanctions available to the Deputy Returning Officer include, but are not limited to, bans from campaigning for an allocated period of time, public statements of sanction by Students’ Union via website and social media, and confiscation of campaign materials.