This page contains all the information for the upcoming Club & Society Bye-Elections, during which any signatory positions which were not successfully elected in our Elections before Easter will be up for election.
Key Links
Essential Information
- Elections for signatory positions for all Clubs and Societies will be conducted online via the Union website.
- The bye-elections process will include a nominations period (26 – 30 May), a deadline for candidates to submit candidate information for the voting page (2 June), and a voting period (2 June – 4 June).
- Eligible students can nominate themselves, upload candidate information, and cast their vote in elections via the Elections Portal from 26 May.
- Students will only be eligible to run/vote in elections for clubs and societies to which they have a membership before Friday 23 May.
- The only positions up for election will be vacant signatory positions.
- Eligible students will be able to run for one signatory position per club/society to which they have a current valid membership.
- The voting system will be STV (single transferrable vote), allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
- Only one vote and one candidate per each signatory position will be required to make the election valid.
- Clubs and societies will need to have successfully elected all three of their signatories by the end of the bye-election period in order to remain active next year.
Bye-Elections Timeline
| Date/Time | Election Event | Notes |
| 22 May 23:59 | Electoral Roll closes – deadline for students to purchase memberships | Any student wishing to run or vote in the bye-elections must have an official membership purchased on the Union website by this date and time to ensure they are on the electoral roll and eligible to run/vote in the bye-election. |
| 26 May 09:00 | Nominations open | Eligible students will be able to submit nominations to become a candidate for vacant signatory positions via the Elections Portal. |
| 30 May 17:00 | Nominations close | Deadline for students to submit nominations. |
| 2 June 08:00 | Candidate Portal closes | Deadline for candidates for to submit candidate information to inform voters via the Elections Portal. |
| 2 June 09:00 | Voting opens | Voting in Club/Society bye-elections for vacant signatory positions opens via the Elections Portal. |
| 4 June 17:00 | Voting closes | Voting in all Club/Society bye-elections closes. |
| 4 June – evening | Results published | Results will be counted and published online once voting has closed via the Elections Portal. |
Bye-Elections Process
Bye-elections for any vacant signatory positions for all Clubs and Societies will be conducted online via the Union website via the Elections Portal, following the above bye-elections timeline. Results will be published online following the close of voting once the count for all bye-elections has been completed. This process will be the only way to elect your vacant signatory positions for the next academic year.
There will be a deadline ahead of the elections period for the close of the electoral roll. The electoral roll is the list of all students who are eligible to run/vote in these elections. The electoral roll will be comprised of all students who have a current valid official membership on the Union website by the cut-off date on Friday 23 May. Students will only be eligible to run/vote in elections for clubs and societies to which they have a membership before Friday 23 May.
Eligible students will be able to run for one signatory position per club/society to which they have a current valid official membership on the Union website. Students can therefore run for a signatory position in more than one club/society, however they will be limited to only running for one signatory position per group.
Information for Current Signatories/Committees
If you did not successfully elect all three signatories in the elections before Easter, you must now:
- Ensure students who wish to vote or run in your club/society’s elections have purchased a membership before Friday 23 May.
- Inform your members that the bye-elections process is coming up: inform them about the nominations period (26 – 30 May), a deadline for candidates to submit candidate information for the voting page (2 June), and a voting period (2 – 4 June).
- Encourage members to consider nominating themselves for election and ensure they are aware of any vacant signatory roles in your group and their responsibilities.
Information for Candidates and voters
What is needed to be eligible to stand for election or vote? – Students will only be eligible to run/vote in bye-elections for clubs and societies to which they have a current valid official membership on the Union website before Friday 23 May. You must also be a Surrey student who will be continuing your studies/research at Surrey next year.
What are the rules of the elections? – There is a separate document which sets out the rules and principles of the election.
What candidate information will candidates be able to submit? – Candidates will be able to submit a preferred name, photo, and a short explanation of why students should vote for them via our Elections Portal before the deadline on 2 June. This will be shown to voters on their voting pages. Candidates can submit different information for each of the signatory positions they nominate themselves for, tailored to the relevant group.
How does STV work? – STV voting ensures that winning candidates have a broad base of support from voters by allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference. Winning candidates will be successful due to a high number of higher preference votes, eg. first or second place votes. Candidates with consistently low levels of support across the pool of voters will not be elected as they will be less likely to win higher preference votes. In STV, fewer votes are “wasted”. If a voter’s first preference candidate does not have enough first place votes to win outright, a voter may still see a candidate they have ranked highly be elected and may therefore be more satisfied with the results of the election.
What happens in the event of a tie for a position? – Under STV, tiebreaks are decided at random by coin toss. This is the widely recognised way to determine tiebreaks and this will be used in Club & Society elections.
When will the results be made available? – We intend to publish the results of all club and society elections in the evening of 4 June. The exact timing will depend on how long it takes to count all the elections, so we are not releasing an exact time at this stage.
How many roles can I run for? – You can nominate yourself for one signatory position per club/society only. As this process is only used for signatory position elections, you can still put yourself forward for any non-signatory positions, as many as you wish, depending on the process and guidelines set by the relevant club/society.
Can I also run for non-signatory positions? – This process is only used to elect signatory positions. Clubs/societies are still responsible for electing their own non-signatory positions, including setting their own processes and timescales. Depending on the process and guidelines set by the relevant club/society, you can nominate yourself for non-signatory roles in addition to or instead of signatory positions.
Any Questions?
If you have any questions about the elections process from a democratic standpoint, please contact hannah.jones@surrey.ac.uk. If you have any questions about handover, memberships, or other club and society-related questions, please contact jodie.varma@surrey.ac.uk. If you have any questions about the Union website, club/society portal, or the elections platform itself, please contact sam.hallam@surrey.ac.uk.
