The following rules govern the election of the Executive Officer team at Birmingham City University Students’ Union (BCUSU) and should be considered in conjunction with existing bylaws governing the organisation. Any breach of the Elections Rules could result in disciplinary action being taken against you, as a candidate, by the Deputy Returning Officer (DRO). These rules refer in part to Bye Law 11, which can be found online at bcusu.com. They act as a supplement to standard regulations of both BCU and BCUSU which are agreed to on enrolment.
1. Oversight and Complaints
1.1 BCUSU will ensure all student members of the Union can participate fully in all aspects of the election.
1.2 BCUSU will conduct Elections in a spirit of friendliness and cooperation.
1.3 The Union’s Returning Officer (RO) is responsible for the overall fairness of the Elections process at BCUSU. Our elections are currently returned by NUS.
1.4 The DRO is responsible for running the elections on a day-to-day basis and ensuring they are free and fair. They also act as the decision maker for any complaints or concerns.
1.5 They are supported in their duties by an elections panel, comprised of Union staff from a mixture of disciplines and backgrounds.
1.6 Any complaints about the elections process, or the conduct of candidates and their supporters, should be made via the appropriate form on the BCUSU Elections Hub website.
1.7 Complaints not submitted through this webform will not be considered.
1.8 The Deputy Returning Officer will make a ruling on the matter within one working day of receipt of the complaint, following a discussion with the Union’s elections panel.
1.9 BCUSU may take any of the following disciplinary action, including but not limited to:
- Verbal warning
- Written warning
- Ban on campaigning for a designated length of time, or in a specific location
- Disqualification from the election
2. Eligibility to Stand
2.1 All candidates wishing to stand for a position should be enrolled students at Birmingham City University for the full duration of the elections period.
2.2 All candidates must agree to the Elections Rules by electronically signing a copy of this document.
2.3 Candidates must provide a manifesto, to be published by the Union, ahead of the advertised cut-off date or their nomination will be withdrawn.
2.4 No candidate is eligible to stand for more than one position in any given election.
2.5 All candidates must attend all required training session(s), or meet with the DRO, following the close of nominations and before the voting period begins.
2.6 All candidates are required to attend Question Time event(s) hosted by BCUSU as prescribed in their training session.
3. Conduct
3.1 Candidates are not allowed to campaign in any way before the opening of the campaigning period.
3.2 Candidates may recruit a campaign team to support them through the elections process. All members of a campaign team must be current, enrolled BCU students whose names have been submitted to the Students’ Union via the approved method ahead of the campaign period opening.
3.3 Candidates must take reasonable steps to ensure that their team’s actions always comply with the campaign rules and must be able to demonstrate this in the event of a complaint against them.
3.4 Candidates and their supporters may only use mailing lists where lawful to do so and where use of that list complies with GDPR legislation.
3.5 Candidates are not allowed to run in a slate. A slate is defined as a group of candidates joining together whether via resources, campaign material or encouraging voters to vote for other candidates.
3.6 Candidates may criticise another candidate’s campaign but must never be personal. Candidates and their supporters must not:
- Reference another candidate’s personal traits or character.
- Misrepresent another candidate’s religious, political, or other views.
- Intimidate any participant in the election.
- Deface any campaign material, or sabotage the campaign, of another candidate.
- Make any attempt to influence the impartiality of the DRO or Union staff.