Candidate FAQ

Any student can submit a complaint about a candidate, their supporter, or about the election process until one hour after the close of voting using the Complaints Form. Complaints raised after this point will not be accepted, except in relation to the conduct of the count.

Grounds for complaints may be on any of the following grounds:

• Failure in good conduct of the election 
• Behaviour and activities of candidates or their supporters
• The administration of the election
• Breaches of the election rules.

Complaints should normally be supported by evidence.

Any student can submit a complaint about the conduct of the count within one day of the announcement of results. Grounds for complaint are limited to: the STV calculations are inaccurate and here is a physical error in the count.

These are the set of rules which state what candidates can and cannot do when running in a Union election.

Any current student can apply to be an Assembly Member or Students' Union Officer. Students applying for an Assembly Member role need to be enrolled as a student at City, University of London in the following academic year.

If you have any questions applying for a position, come and talk to the Elections team by email suelections@city.ac.uk,  book in a chat, or drop-in to the SU Office space, Tait building on the Northampton Square campus.

Absolutely not.

We are running a series of support sessions and workshops throughout the elections period. These can be found on pages 14-17 in the Nomination Application Pack.

If you are elected, we will provide you with training and ongoing support throughout your role. Some of these training dates can be found on page 12 in the Nomination Application Pack.

Yes! If you are elected City Students’ Union will fund a Tier 4 Visa extension and associated health insurance.

More Information can be found from UKCISA website.

Yes! You may hear this referenced to as collective campaigning or running on a Slate; this is allowed but is regulated to ensure groups do not have an unfair advantage over others.

All members of the slate need to complete the Slate section when completing their nomination. Remember to spell the name of your Slate correctly.

Yes, there is a limit on how many candidates a Slate can run for a single position. The limit being the total number of positions available. For example, Slates can include a maximum of 4 candidates for SU Officer, 7 candidates for NUS Delegate and 5 or 6 per school Assembly Member position. This technically means the limit for total slate candidates is 44 (one candidate per position).

There are additional restrictions placed upon current Students' Union Officers and Assembly Members. These will only apply to those individuals, not the entire Slate - other candidates in the same Slate will not be affected.

If you are unsure of what those restrictions look like, come and talk to the Elections team by email suelections@city.ac.uk,  book in a chat, or drop-in to the SU Office space, Tait building on the Northampton Square campus.

All members of the slate need to complete the Slate section when completing their nomination. Remember to spell the name of your Slate correctly.

Yes, just let us know on your nomination form. We'll also ask for the name you are registered with the university as so we can set up the election but your preferred name will appear on the ballot.

This is what you intend to work on if you are elected. It also helps voters understand why they should vote for you.

Every priority that is written will inform the Union's work in the next academic year so it's really important you contribute!

To get the job students at City have to elect you by voting for you.

The voting system we use is called Single Transferable Vote (STV). Voters are asked to rank the candidates in order of preference and select candidates they want in the order they want them (1,2,3 etc). Voters may express as many or as few preferences as they wish, but cannot mark more than one candidate with the same number.

To win, you must get above 50% of all the votes, either by totalling more than half of the first preferences or by redistribution of votes.

RON stands for Re-Open Nominations and appears in all elections, having this option allows voters to choose none of the candidates opting for the election process to restart.

Any student-led group at City can support a candidate that is running in our elections, the President / Captain just need to let us know the committee all agree. Once thats done groups can use their membership lists and social media to promote a candidate or slate. Easy.

No Society or Sports Team funds must be used to finance your campaign.

Yes, your society or sports team can decide to endorse you, however, this decision must be made without your involvement. This means not being in the room or chat when they make the decision. If you are a President / Captain, then notification of endorsement must be communicated to us by another member e.g. Vice President.

Yes if you would like to do this, you can.

No, you will not have to make a speech. There are many ways to campaign without the need for public speaking.

However, if this is a skill you'd like to improve, come and talk to the Elections team by email suelections@city.ac.uk,  book in a chat, or drop-in to the SU Office space, Tait building on the Northampton Square campus. We can support and empower you to feel more confident talking to a large audience or even when asking students to vote for you.

No, you can only stand for one.

If you are unsure which role might be right for you, come and talk to the Elections team by email suelections@city.ac.uk,  book in a chat, or drop-in to the SU Office space, Tait building on the Northampton Square campus.

It is totally up to you.

The more students you speak to, the more votes you will hopefully gain.

Unfortunately, not.

You will need to organise your campaign around your University commitments. Once you have submitted your application form, we recommend that you get in touch with your course to let them know – but remember, don’t ask them to email students for you!

Yes, if you would like to use some of your budget to buy sweets you can. You must keep an itemised list and the receipts of everything you buy for vote week and not spend more than your budget. Please also be considerate of dietary requirements and be transparent to students about any allergens/animal products that are in your sweets.

You can download a budget tracker on our Resource Hub.

No, if a student is voting then step away.

Over vote week there will be voting stations across all campuses and students' union staff on hand to help. If someone is struggling point them our way.

One of our most common complaints is of candidates helping students to vote - don't let this be you!

Yes, you can run together on a job share!

A job share is an arrangement where two people work on a part-time basis to perform a job normally fulfilled by one person working full time. In this case, it means that the 35 hours a week worked by the Students’ Union Officer role would be split between two people.

Drop Phil an email to chat more Philip.Gilks@city.ac.uk

Come and talk to the Elections team by email suelections@city.ac.uk,  book in a chat, or drop-in to the SU Office space, Tait building on the Northampton Square campus.