1. Candidates must abide by the following rules throughout the election and must sign to say that they have read and understood the rules prior to campaigning.
2. Campaigning for this election can only take place during these times: 0900 18th October 2021 through to 16.00 26th October 2021.
3. 3. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, campaigning using physical campaign materials will be limited. We will allow posters and banners to be displayed in specific places. These places are outline below. Person to person campaigning will not be allowed and no distribution of campaign materials will be allowed.
4. Candidates must be able to prove they have taken reasonable steps to ensure that their campaign team actions comply with the Election rules at all times.
5. Candidates may only move or remove their own campaign materials.
6. Abuse of any sort towards students, SU staff, other candidates or their campaign teams, could result in disqualification of the candidate.
7. All campaign materials must be approved by suelections@essex.ac.uk prior to use and candidates will be asked to remove any unapproved campaign material.
8. Any alterations that take place to promotional materials of any kind, after approval cannot be used until they are reapproved by the SU.
9. Candidates may only nominate for one position. All nominations must be submitted by 16th October 2021 16.00.
10. Campaigners are not allowed to use the SU or University of Essex logos in their campaign materials.
11. Candidates and campaigners may not promise to deliver specific outcomes next academic year, during their campaigning. They must campaign on the basis of why they are the best candidate and what they will choose to focus on if elected.
12. Social media: Campaigners can use any existing social media groups, events, contacts or mailing lists, with the owners express permission. Any permission given to one candidate should be given to all candidates to promote their campaign. Candidates should be mindful of the reason the groups were formed and not spam them with unnecessary posts.
13. Bribes must not be offered by candidates or campaign teams, as part of any campaign.
14. All candidate must provide a full list of their campaign team to the Election Manager by 18th October 2021
15. Non students are not allowed to form part of any candidate’s campaign team.
16. There is to be no negative campaigning by candidates or their campaign team.
17. University of Essex Staff or Student’s Union staff must not promote or endorse any candidates.
18. Candidates or their campaign teams must not communicate with voters in any way once they have started their voting process.
19. Candidates could be disqualified if they are found to have broken any of the Election rules.

All campaigners must adhere to the SU’s General Policy on any Students’ Union or University of Essex premises.

1. Candidates must be a Student of the University of Essex and a member of the University of Essex Students’ Union.
2. Any student that has been found to have “seriously breached” the Student Conduct Regulations, will not be allowed to stand as a candidate. The candidate has the right to appeal to the Returning Officer. Once Nominations have closed, all candidate’s names will be checked for their Right to represent as laid out in by law 6K.

1. Candidates must not exceed their budget limits:
   • SCO’s can claim back up to £10 in out-of-pocket expenses
   • Candidates will be reimbursed by the Students’ Union for their campaign materials providing receipts have been handed into the SU by the 30th November 2021.

1. Candidates are not allowed to run on a Slate
2. Candidates are not allowed to endorse other candidates in anyway
   • Where preferential voting exists, you must only canvas for your own vote and not for other candidates.

1. All complaints should be directed to the Elections Manager by email suelections@essex.ac.ukand must include evidence.
2. Verbal complaints will not be treated as official complaints.
3. Any complaints that are not resolved by the Election manager will be referred to the Deputy Returning Officer (Keith Rowland). Any complaints The DRO is unable to decide on will go to the Returning Officer (Peter Robertson, NUS)
4. All complaints will be resolved within the timeframe of the election (results will not be announced whilst there are any outstanding complaints).
5. When a complaint is submitted, please include your name, the name of the candidate that the complaint is against, reasons for the complaint and any evidence to support the complaint. Any complaints submitted without the above information will not be investigated.
6. Any student or candidate that is judged to be making an unsubstantiated complaint will be dealt with, in accordance with the SU’s General policy.
7. he voting period can be extended at the discretion of the Returning Officer in the event of a failure of the online voting system.

• Approved materials- Any or all campaigning materials that have been deemed appropriate and agreed by the SU Elections team. Approved materials must only be displayed exactly as it was, when it was originally approved. Any amendments must be reapproved before use.
• Bribe- Offering any form of perceived reward or action in exchange for voting for any candidate
• Campaign team- A group of students directly involved with a candidate in the preparation and delivery of their campaign
• Campaigning- The act of encouraging other students to vote for a particular person
• Negative campaigning- The act of encouraging other students to not to vote for a particular person on the basis of misinformation, character deformation or slander.
• Endorsement- The act of a candidate or their campaign team encouraging students to vote for any other candidate.
• Abuse- Any act of aggression (be it physical or verbal), harassment or bullying as defined by the SU General Membership Policy.
• Slate- A slate is a group of candidates that run in multi-seat or multi-position elections on a common platform.
• Promise- a statement of intent by a candidate or campaign team indicating that they will do something or that something will happen if they are successful in the election.
• Approved Poster Display locations
• SU bar notice board
• SU Top Bar notice board
• The store notice board
• Banners can be hung from SU windows with staff permission and following covid guidance whilst hanging them
• Southend SU lounge notice board

Under GDPR, images containing yourself as an individual where you are the primary focus of the image are considered personal data – this could be self-submitted alongside your submission, or an image taken by our staff around campaigning, voting, and results night. Images of you as a candidate during the campaign period and during the overall Leadership Race period will be used in future promotional materials by the University of Essex Students’ Union (“Essex SU”).

By submitting yourself as a candidate for the Students’ Union Leadership Race you are acknowledging Essex SU’s use of your personal data for this purpose. Our Privacy Notice details your rights as a data subject, and outlines what Essex SU will use your personal data for.

Further to this, some of our Student Community Officer roles also relate to a more sensitive level of person data. These are:

• Students with Disabilities Officer
• LGBQ+ Officer
• Trans Officer
• Women’s Officer
• Black Officer
• Asian Officer
• Global Majority Officer

These roles identify something about you as a candidate that is considered ‘special category data’ – namely, physical health, mental health, sexuality, and ethnicity. By submitting yourself as a candidate, you are acknowledging that you are putting this information about yourself into the public domain, and that Essex SU will use your personal data (in the form of your image) for promotional uses in the future, and may do so in specific relation to the role you are running for.

By submitting yourself as a candidate, you explicitly consent to the processing of this special category data for the purposes and by the means outlined above. Once again, our Privacy Notice details your rights as a data subject, and outlines what Essex SU will use your personal data for.