Campaigning
Committees
Nominations

Voting

So, the big day has come around finally! These two days tend to be stressful for both candidates and
election staff. The main rule to remember is that you are not allowed to campaign in the vicinity of the polling area. In terms of the LTB, this means you are not allowed to enter the building even if it’s cold, wet or there are howling winds.
Members will be able to vote online using www.essexstudent.com. Full insruction will be on the election section of the website. The staff at the election desk will check that each voter is a registered student and they will assume responsibility for removing candidates’ publicity from the voting area. For those positions not elected by cross-campus ballot, i.e. Women’s Convenor, they will ensure that only eligible students receive ballot papers for these positions, i.e female students. At the close of voting on Thursday, The Data will be secured. No votes will be looked at until the count begins.

The Count

The count will be supervised and administered by the returning officer using a secure electronic system. As soon as they are satisfied that they have results to announce they will declare the names of the succesful candidates.
In many elections, the second, third and other subsequent preferences become influential. All candidates are advised encouraged to try to get some preference from a voter. Even a 10th preference has influence at crucial parts of the count. For some candidates it’s the difference between winning and losing.
For those who are really interested the Electoral Reform Society (http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/) have loads of information about how our systems work. We use the Alternative vote (AV) for single seat
elections and Single Transferable Vote (STV) for multiple seat contests.