What are the By-Elections?
The By-Elections are where you get to choose who you want to represent your community in the next academic year through voting on the Students’ Union website.
This includes voting to elect the Part-Time Officer roles that are currently vacant. These officers are elected to represent students and lobby the university to make impactful change, so they can have a significant influence over your student experience!
There are many benefits to standing and being an elected officer. Each person running in the elections will have different priorities and aims, so if you would like to see a particular change happen, make sure that you check each candidate's manifesto.
What roles can you stand and vote for?
There are five positions for this election, including Accessibility Officer, Ethnic Equity Officer, LGBT+ Officer, Postgraduate Officer and Women’s Officer. These are part-time, voluntary roles where, subject to approval, you can receive a bursary of £330 for your work across the academic year.
You can stand for any role, provided that you meet the eligibility criteria. You must self-identify as part of the community that you would like to represent, so make sure you tick the correct boxes as you nominate yourself on the Elections webpage.
How can I get involved?
If you have seen a role that you would like to run for, you can nominate yourself here. It takes just 5 minutes to stand in the elections: all you need is a photograph and a 200-word and an A4 page manifesto saying why students should vote for you.
You don’t need to have any prior experience: all officers will receive training. All you need is enthusiasm to learn more and the passion to represent students and their interests!
Why should I care about who is elected?
Your Part-Time Officers will push for changes they want to see at the university and they can make changes that affect your academic, extra-curricular, and personal experience at university.
Previous Officer wins include:
- Arranging Fees and Income drop-in sessions for students
- Instigating a Governance review to ensure policies and democratic structures are up to date
- Hosting the first ever “LeicsCook” series
- Raising £10k for Movember
- Implementing a food bank at the university
- Organising virtual mixer events for Distance Learning Students
- Creating a resource guide for students wanting to learn more about Trans Affirming Care
- Coordinating the Exam Destress campaign for students
- Engaging over 5000 students with Freshers Week to help students settle into life at Leicester.
Which roles can I vote for?
- Accessibility Officer – you must self-identify as having a disability to vote for this position
- Ethnic Equity Officer – you must self-identify as being from a racialised community to vote for this position
- LGBT+ Officer – you must self-identify as being from the LGBTQ+ community to vote for this position
- Postgraduate Officer- you must self-identify as a postgraduate student to vote for this position
- Women’s Officer – you must self-identify as a woman to vote for this position.
- Mature and Part-Time Students Officer - you must self-identify as a mature student or studying part-time to vote for this position.
How do I vote?
Prior to voting we would recommend that you have read through the candidates’ manifestos. Once you are ready to vote click on the green ‘Vote Now’ button, full instructions on how to vote is available beneath this button. If the ‘Vote Now’ button isn’t visible then firstly ensure that you are logged in, using your student username and password, if you are still experiencing problems email su-elections@leicester.ac.uk.
To vote, follow the instructions below:
- If you aren’t already logged in then click on the ‘login’ button on the top right of the screen, then click on ‘Log In’ under Student Login’ and then if required come back to www.leicesterunion.com/vote
- Click on the Green Vote Now button in the election.
- Then click on Vote Tab (with a ballot icon on it)
- Click on Start Voting and then you will be able to vote for each position within the election
- You are asked to rank the candidates in order of preference before choosing ‘No further preferences’. We utilise the Single Transferrable Voting system and therefore you second, third, further choices etc… can be important in determining who wins the election.
- You will then be asked to review your Preferences before choosing ‘Cast Vote’ if you are happy or ‘Back to Ballot’ if they you wish to change their vote.
- You will receive an email to thank you for each vote that you cast.
For the Autumn Elections, you must self-identify as part of the relevant criteria for each role so that the officer is elected by the community that they represent. Make sure you tick the criteria that align with how you self-identify e.g., someone with disabilities, a postgraduate student, someone from a racialised community, woman.
If you have any problems either logging in or with the voting process, please email su-elections@le.ac.uk including your student number, name, and details of the difficulties you are facing. You cannot change your votes once they have been cast.
How do I make a complaint about a candidate/ campaign team?
You can make either make an informal complaint or raise queries by reaching out to the Elections Team at su-elections@le.ac.uk. More information can be found here. If you would like to make a complaint about the conduct of a candidate, or how the elections are run, you can make a formal complaint by going to this webpage and following the instructions.
What are endorsements?
Endorsements are statements of support from individuals or societies. They are used as a tool to convince voters to vote for you. The level of influence they have on the number of votes can vary, so the number of endorsements does not necessarily mean that the candidate will get more votes. It can be helpful for voters to see who has their support and why.
Candidates are only permitted to reach out to societies and individuals for endorsements once the campaigning period has begun on 9th October at 9am. Endorsements, therefore, are only permitted to be public during the campaigning period. Reaching out to people to announce your candidacy before this date is pre-campaigning, and goes against the rules. If you suspect that a candidate has been pre-campaigning, reach out to the Elections Team at su-elections@le.ac.uk and the Deputy Returning Officer will investigate this further.
What privileges and compensation do Part-Time Officers get?
Part-Time Officer roles are currently voluntary, although in recognition of their contribution to the Students’ Union, we offer a bursary of £330. This is subject to approval by the Students’ Union, based on the work they have done.
Part-Time Officers also receive other perks, such as:
- Allocated budget for projects and campaigns
- Students’ Union lanyard and personalised hoodie
- Storage and deliveries to the Students' Union office
- Room booking privileges and support with running events
- Shared Part-Time Officer and College Representative desks in the Students’ Union
- Opportunity to sit on a relevant Council or Network e.g., Academic, Liberation, Sustainability.
When do the roles start?
Part-Time Officers willl formally take up their role immediately after the election, but training will commence from October.
When do nominations Close?
Nominations were open between 9th September to Friday 4th October.
When does voting take place?
Voting is open from 10am on Monday 14th October to midday on 15th October online at www.leicesterunion.com/vote. Voting is conducted under the Single Transferable Voting (STV) system, further details of how this works can be found here.
If I have any queries or are unhappy with an aspect of the election who should I contact?
Queries should be directed to the election team at su-elections@le.ac.uk , Formal complaints must be submitted prior to one hour after the close of voting using the complaints form at https://www.leicesterunion.com/surveys/electioncomplaintsform/
When will the results be announced?
Results are announced online on Wednesday 16th October.