The rules below are in place for the 2025 main election. You must confirm you have read and agree to these rules when submitting your nomination. If you have any questions about these rules please contact us at surreydecides@surrey.ac.uk
General Information
As a candidate, you are expected to follow the rules of the election. Rule breaks will risk your position in the election. Making vexatious complaints about other candidates can also result in action being taken against you. Focusing positively on your own campaign is the best way to win the election.
During the election the Students’ Union will communicate with you via emails from surreydecides@surrey.ac.uk. It’s advisable to check your student email every day.
For voters – If you have any concerns about a candidate’s potential rule-break, please report it as soon as possible with evidence to surreydecides@surrey.ac.uk
| Dates | Election Event |
| Monday 3 February at 10:00 | Nominations Open |
| Wednesday 12 February at 17:00 | Nominations Close |
| Monday 17 February at 12:00 | Manifesto Deadline – Campaigning Starts |
| Monday 24, and Tuesday 25 February | Question Time Evenings |
| Tuesday 25 February (Following Question Time) | Voting Open |
| Saturday 1 March at 12:00 | Budget Declaration Deadline |
| Saturday 1 March at 19:00 | Voting Closes |
| Saturday 1 March from 20:00 | Results Announced |
Important Deadlines
- 17:00 Wednesday 12 February: Nominations deadline
- 12:00 Monday 17 February: Manifesto and candidate information deadline
- 12:00 Saturday 1 March: Budget declaration deadline
17:00 Wednesday 12 February: Nominations Deadline
To be a valid election candidate, you must submit your nomination before 17:00 Wednesday 12 February. If you miss this deadline, please submit your reasons for your late submission via email to surreydecides@surrey.ac.uk
12:00 Monday 17 February: Manifesto and candidate information deadline
To help voters choose who to vote for, candidates are asked to submit a manifesto and information about their campaign using this form. Candidates should upload:
- Your manifesto points in plaintext
- Your manifesto as a portrait PDF (you may use our provided template)
- Your ballot photo as a .jpg or .png file
- Your name as you wish it to appear on the voting page
Any information which is not submitted in the correct format by the deadline will not be included in any Students’ Union materials, only the candidate’s name and the position they are running for will be displayed. Providing information, including a manifesto, is optional but highly recommended.
12:00 Saturday 1 March: Budget declaration deadline
Election budget:
Your campaign costs cannot exceed the maximum limit for your role to ensure fairness. The full amount you have spent can be claimed back from the Students’ Union. The limit for your campaign costs are:
- £70 for full-time roles
- £45 for Union Chair
- £35 for all other part-time roles
This limit includes any items or services you pay for during your campaign. This limit also includes the approximate value of any materials you may have received for free or already owned which you have used during your campaign.
Budget declaration:
You must declare that you have not exceeded the maximum limit for your campaign costs via the budget declaration form by 12:00 Saturday 1 March. You must complete the budget declaration even if you spend no money or use no materials for your campaign so we can ensure all candidates campaigned fairly.
You should fill in a budget form to track all your campaign spending and the approximate value of any gifted or pre-owned items you use for your campaign. This budget form will be provided to all candidates and should be uploaded using the budget declaration form by 12:00 Saturday 1 March.
Candidates who are late in submitting budget forms risk being removed from the election count. Making a fraudulent or inaccurate budget declaration is a serious offence that could result in your disqualification from the election.
Reimbursement:
Candidates must supply receipts in order to prove their spending and claim back campaign expenses. Please ensure that you have scanned or photographed all your receipts for electronic submission, as if you cannot provide a receipt for something on your budget form that you have spent, you cannot be reimbursed for it, and it may lead to problems with your budget submission.
Campaigning Rules
Early campaigning and organising your campaign:
;Campaigning means actively encouraging students to vote for you. Campaigning for votes may begin from 12:00 Monday 17 February. Campaigning for votes is not allowed before this point. Before campaigning for votes begins, you may organise your campaign. This can include:
- Conducting research or gathering information to help develop your manifesto
- Meeting with Union or University staff or elected officers
- Assembling a small team of students who will campaign on your behalf once campaigning opens
- Seeking endorsements from Club or Society signatories
Directly asking students to vote for you, advertising manifesto points, or promoting your intention to stand in the election may be interpreted as early campaigning. Any action that could be interpreted as early campaigning for votes will be investigated by the Returning Officer and action may be taken against you. If it is unclear whether preparation activity will be considered as early campaigning, please contact surreydecides@surrey.ac.uk for advice.
Campaigning strategies:
Once the campaigning period begins, you should campaign whilst following these rules.
Allowed:
- Printing and distributing campaign materials (eg. posters, flyers) across the University campus. You must ensure you do not place campaign materials in any not allowed locations.
- Speaking to students in-person about voting for you.
- Posting about yourself and your campaign on your personal social media.
- Asking other students to promote your campaign.
- Attending social events or Rubix nights to promote your campaign.
- Attending Question Time held in Rubix in the Union building Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 February. (Attendance at Question Time is highly recommended but not compulsory. Candidates who cannot attend will be mentioned during the event.)
- Creatively finding other ways to promote your campaign.
Not allowed:
- Campaigning and campaign materials (eg. posters, flyers) are not allowed in the entire Library building (including the ground floor area outside Co-Op Fresh), all Hive spaces, the Dots, and the Nest.
- Unsolicited knocking (cold calling) on doors of residences (including any outer doors) is not allowed.
- Speaking to students in any manner which may be interpreted as being intimidation or harassment is not allowed.
- Campaigning candidates must not block access to University buildings, disrupt the academic activities of the University, or cause disturbance to others.
- Campaign materials are not allowed to be placed in any dangerous/hard to reach areas.
- Campaign materials are not allowed to be placed in any location which obstructs the normal workings of the campus or causes danger to others. Do not obstruct vision panels in doors or obscure a fire exit sign.
- Campaign materials should not be left anywhere that damages University or Union property or that creates litter. Posters should be placed on central poster boards, and are not allowed on painted walls. You should not use stickers.
- Campaign material should never be left in non-University owned locations, including public bus stops. This includes public bus stops at Hazel Farm.
All campaign material must be removed from campus before the votes are counted. Any reports of campaigning materials left in any banned areas will be treated seriously. University staff may remove campaigning material which is located in unsafe places or which may damage the University’s property.
Voting
You must not cast any votes using another person’s log in details. Every student has the right to vote secretly and without intimidation or harassment. Any evidence of candidates interfering with another student’s vote will be taken very seriously by the Returning Officer and may result in disqualification from the election.
Voting opens after Question Time finishes on Tuesday 25 February and closes on Saturday 1 March at 19:00. Votes will be counted and announced from 20:00 on Saturday 1 March. Full voting results will also be published to the Union website after the results announcement. If you are successfully elected, you will begin your role in July 2025.