Committee Elections
Committee members are elected by your members to lead your Group, arrange activities and represent the needs of your Group across campus. As democratic organisations, Clubs, Societies and SLSs run their elections online – this allows all of your members the opportunity to run for a committee position and vote for who they want to lead their group.
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Setting up an Online Election
The Nominations Period
The Candidates
Committee Restructuring
The Voting Period
Election Results
Bye-Elections
Setting up an Online Election
The SU website has an elections function which makes it really easy for you to run your election. All committee members have access to Elections Admin so anyone can set up the election. Take a look at our step-by-step elections guide on how to set up an online election.
The Nominations Period
For your main committee election, the nominations period should last for a minimum of two weeks. This gives all members time to consider running in the election. If there’s someone who you think would make a great committee member, tell them. Your encouragement could persuade someone to run.
Elections appear on the Elections Page and on most Clubs or Societies webpages. Contact Societies or the AU if you can’t find your election. Share the links to your election across Social Media and in emails to all members so that everyone hears about the election.
The Candidates
When nominations close, you need to approve the candidates list before voting can open. Head over to Elections Admin to do this. Make sure you leave enough time between nominations closing and voting opening to do this.
You can allow candidates to submit manifestos, pictures and slogans to help with their campaign. This is all done through the Elections System.
Only members can run in the election and vote, but there is no deadline for joining your Group. Encourage people to join up if they want to run or vote in the election. Committee members can upload candidates, including their manifestos and photos, if they are unable to do so themselves. This cannot be used to avoid paying membership fees though!
Committee Restructuring
Some Groups will want to restructure their committee, which may including introducing new committee positions, removing positions, changing responsibilities or merging positions. These changes must be approved at an AGM and made by the SU before you create your election online. You can find out more information about AGMs here.
The Voting Period
The Voting Period should last 5-7 days and you should share the elections links on social media and via email several times throughout this period. Don’t forget to remind people to vote during events – all current members – including all committee and candidates – can vote. Share this link to your members and encourage them to vote!
The SU uses Single Transferable Voting (STV) in all their elections. This allows voters to select candidates in order of preference or vote to say that none of the candidates are suitable. We've made a little video about STV - you may want to share it with your members during the voting period to inform them as well.
Election Results
Email Societies or the AU to get your election results. These will be emailed out for you to announce as you wish.
By-Elections
Sometimes you need to hold a by-election during the year if you were unable to elect certain positions or if someone resigns from committee. You can also hold a by-election after an EGM if you create a new position during that meeting. By-elections are run in the same was as a main election. Please note that, apart from President, Secretary and Treasurer, it is fine to have unfilled positions on committee.