Rules and Regulations

RULES AND REGULATIONS:

VOTING WILL BE Monday 00:01 – Friday 15:00 Week 9, Spring Term 2008

NOMINATIONS

(1) A list of all accepted nomination forms will be available online to any member of the Union.

(2) Nominations open at 9am Monday Week 6 (11th February) and close at noon on Friday Week 7 (22nd February).

(3) All ordinary members of the Union may stand, nominate and vote. The only exceptions are:

a. Any ordinary member of the Union may only nominate one candidate for each available post (where post is to be interpreted as an available position).

b. The Returning Officer and their assistants are not allowed to stand in the elections or nominate for any positions.

c. The Returning Officer will only vote in the case of a tie.

(4) All candidates must submit an official nomination form bearing their own signature and the signatures and printed names of a proposer and four seconders (who must be members of the Union).

APPROVAL AND PRINTING OF PUBLICITY

(5) All publicity must be approved (at 5pm meeting each day) by the Returning and Pro-Returning Officers before it can be printed. Two copies of each piece must be submitted with the printing order, and will be retained. Once approved, Your:Print will complete the order.

(6) All publicity must be prepared using facilities that are available to all members of the Union. If you are unsure about this, consult the Returning Officer.

(7) Publicity must be printed at Your:Print. The use of other printers will lead to disqualification.

(8) All successful candidates must provide the Returning Officer with a written statement of their expenses within fourteen days of the election. Expenses must not amount to more than £25.

PUBLICITY CONTENTS

(9) Election publicity must not contain defamatory, libellous or personally insulting remarks.

(10) Any candidate who interferes with any other candidate’s publicity may be disqualified. Candidates are fully responsible for the actions and conduct of their supporters and must make their supporters aware of this.

(11) Candidates are obliged to clearly state in full on their nomination form the names of any national, local or campus based political groups or parties of which they are a member.

CAMPAIGNING AND DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLICITY

(12) No candidate is allowed to distribute any publicity, do any door-knocking or campaign until their nomination form has been submitted and accepted and the Rules and Regulations breifing has taken place on Monday Week 8. Candidates must not campaign in University accommodation areas between 10pm and 9am.

(13) Only two pieces of publicity per candidate are allowed on the Election Nimlock boards with Velcro tabs only.

(14) Candidates can only place publicity indoors, within University owned buildings.

(15) Publicity may only be attached to surfaces with blu-tack or drawing pins. Use of sellotape is forbidden. No publicity can be affixed on YUSU regulated boards, which are reserved for the use of student groups.

a. Candidates may email friends / supporters with the purpose of co-ordinating their campaign. It is recommended that they CC or forward this email to the Returning Officer (president@yusu.org).

b. Mass emailing is not allowed

c. The use of social network groups such as Facebook, Myspace, Bebo and Univillage (see Returning Officer for clarification on other groups) is allowed as long as regulation (9) is followed. Facebook flyers are disallowed. You may only mass message groups which have been set up for the purpose of elections.

(16) Publicity should not obstruct any fire notices, fire safety equipment or glass on fire doors.

(17) Each candidate may have up to 20 campaigners. You are responsible for the actions of your campaigners.

(18) Election candidates and their campaigners must wear Elections Identification Badges whilst campaigning on campus. These are available from the Students’ Union reception, twenty-four hours after the nomination form has been accepted.

(19) Campaigning must not take place within sight of a ballot box, or within University Computer Rooms (during voting) or in the vicinity of public-use networked terminals.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION

(20) The following disciplinary measures are available.

a. Ban from Campaigning for a set period – used if the Returning and Pro-Returning Officers deem it not necessary to disqualify the candidate

i. The candidate must return all un-distributed publicity, their Candidate badge and their campaigners badges to reception within 24 hours of notice that they have been suspended from campaigning.

ii. The candidate is not allowed to campaign, canvass, attend society, sports club or JCRC meetings with the intention of campaigning.

iii. Candidates caught breaking these regulations will be instantly disqualified from the election

iv. The Returning Officer may take it upon themselves to inform other election candidates and other members of the university that a candidate has been suspended from campaigning in an effort to help police this.

b. Disqualification – used if the Returning and Pro-Returning Officer feels that the candidate has, through disobeying these Rules and Regulations, obtained an unfair advantage, likely to sway the result of the election, that cannot be rectified.

i. The candidate’s name is removed from the ballot.

ii. If the ballot paper has already been printed, or the ballot has opened, votes for the candidate will be passed to their second preference (or counted as spoilt when one is not available).

ACCESS PROBLEMS

(21) If you are a student with disabilities and have any access problems that might cause you difficulties in distributing your publicity, please contact the Returning Officer for assistance.

THE COUNTING PROCESS

(22) All candidates have the right to be present during any count of paper ballots for their election. Those exercising this right, however, may be requested to remain in an ante-room until their result is announced. Disqualification will result for any candidate leaving the area without the permission of the Returning Officer. Refreshments and access to a toilet are provided.

COMPLAINTS OR QUERIES

Complaints or queries must be submitted to the Returning Officer by e-mail (president@yusu.org), or to YUSU Reception. Replies will be in written form

Page Created: 11th Nov, 2007
Last Updated: 1:51pm on 4th Feb, 2008 by Anne-Marie Canning