All Rules below are in addition to our existing Articles of Governance on referenda (28-31).
1.0. Definitions:
1.1. Agent = The lead campaigner responsible for officially coordinating the campaign for one side in the referendum. They must be a fully registered student member of The SU Bath.
1.2. Campaigner = A member of the agent’s campaign team who will support them in advocating for one side in the referendum. They must be a fully registered student member of The SU Bath.
1.3. There must be an agent for both sides of the referendum for agents to be appointed.
1.4. If multiple agents come forward for each side, they will be asked to work as a team.
1.5. In the instance where an agent (or agents) show interest for only one referendum side, no agents will be appointed for either side in the referendum.
1.6. Multiple agents who come forward for a side are to be considered as one agent. The SU Bath will require a list of names of who will be acting as the agent/campaign team for the campaign. Only people on the named team would be eligible for reimbursements.
1.7. Fully registered student members of The SU Bath are free to campaign without being associated with an agent.
2.0. The three principle rules:
2.1. Campaigners must act in the interests of a fair referendum.
2.2. Campaigners must treat all others with respect. This includes engaging in healthy debate and not campaigning negatively.
2.3. Campaigners should only undertake activities that others can also reasonably do.
3.0. Eligibility
3.1. To be eligible to vote and campaign you must be a fully registered student member of the SU Bath.
3.2. Students who are staff may campaign and take part in the referendum, but must remain impartial whilst working in their student staffing role, with the exception of Student Officers.
3.3. SU Bath student groups are entitled to endorse one referendum stance. If your student group would like to endorse, please contact sureturningofficer@bath.ac.uk
4.0. Costs and Resources:
4.1. An agent’s referendum campaign must not exceed £50 in expenditure. [See definition of agent above for reference]. Expenditure up to the limit of £50 will be reimbursed by The SU Bath only to members of the campaign team. This is £50 total, and not £50 per member.
4.2. No pre-existing materials may be used for campaigning. Items freely and readily available to all campaigners can be used without deduction from expenses and can be used without itemisation. If you have any queries regarding this, please speak to the returning officer or deputy returning officer first.
4.3. All agents must submit all their campaign costs with receipts to the Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officers. The final deadline for expenses will be made clear for each individual election. If no expenditure is incurred this must be declared to the Deputy Returning Officer.
4.4. It is mandatory for agents to attend a daily agent drop in with the Returning Officer/Deputy Returning Officers to update expense forms.
4.5. Plain shirts will be expensed at £1 each regardless of cost. Printed shirts and transfer papers must be expensed at cost.
4.6. No 'part expensing' is permitted (you must expense the total cost of the entire item you have purchased, e.g. the entire pack of transfer paper, not just the cost of half of it - even if you just used half.)
4.7. Postage & Packaging costs do not need to be expensed.
4.8. Social media can be used to campaign, but targeted advert costs will form part of the allotted expenditure limits. Groups may use social media to campaign as long as the usage complies with the three principle rules. Each agent may send The SU Bath a word limited statement by a set deadline for inclusion on The SU Bath webpage for the relevant referendum.
4.8. Printed materials from external organisations will be tariffed at the following costs for purpose of expenses.
- 0.04 pence per unit (A5 sheet)
- 0.10 pence per unit (A4 sheet)
- 0.92 pence per unit (A3 sheet)
4.9. No banners are permitted. Posters no larger than A3 may be used but must be affixed using string only.
5.0. Timing:
5.1. The campaign period is the same as the polling period.
5.2. No 'Early campaigning' is permitted. This excludes creating election content in a public place ahead of the election period (as long as there is reasonably no form of campaigning). Agents are permitted to tell close friends or external organizations of their appointment before campaigning begins.
5.3. Research for a campaign can take part before the campaign period starts.
6.0. Location:
6.1. Campaigning cannot occur in the following places:
- The Library
- Outside the SU Advice and Support Centre
- Student Services
- University commercial outlets
- Sports Training Village
6.2. Campaigners must allow voters to cast their ballot freely and without interference. All electronic devices are counted as ballot papers in this context.
7.0. Rulings:
7.1. All rulings on the interpretation of the rules will be made by the Returning Officer or their nominated representative (i.e. DRO). Interpretation will be in the interest of the electorate above all others.
7.2. Referendum rules are in addition to general SU and University rules and regulations, and the Law.
7.3. If a breach of these rules has occurred, the Returning Officer or their nominated representative may apply a sanction.
7.4. Sanctions can include, but are not limited to:
- A direct reminder
- An informal or formal warning
- A public warning
- Temporary campaign ban (online or in-person)
- Disqualification of an agent or a campaign team
8.0. Complaints, grievances, and appeals:
8.1. These must follow the grievance procedure.
8.2. It is mandatory for agents to attend a daily agent drop in with the Returning Officer/Deputy Returning Officers to update and inform of any outstanding complaints.
8.3. Any full member of The SU Bath can submit an election grievance if they believe an agent or their team’s behaviour is in breach of the rules during a referendum.
8.4. Grievances will normally only be accepted within 24 hours from the incident and if emailed to sureturningofficer@bath.ac.uk. No grievances will be accepted after 1 hour after the close of voting.
8.5. All outstanding grievances will be resolved before the conduct of the count. The only accepted grievances after this will be in relation to the count itself and must be submitted within 1 hour of the announcement of the results.
8.6. Grievance submissions will be considered by the Deputy Returning Officer, and sometimes in consultation with the Elections Chair or Elections Committee. The DRO will decide whether to accept (uphold) or reject the grievance, and you will be notified in writing of any resulting action.
8.7. To help the Deputy Returning Officer consider your grievance, it should be factual and contain clear evidence about the complaint. Grievances that are comprised of hearsay or activity that does not directly affect you may not be successful. The Deputy Returning Officer reserves the right to consider grievances as vexatious and may take disciplinary action accordingly.
8.8. If a student is dissatisfied with the outcome of the grievance, they may be able to request the opportunity to appeal.
8.9. In general, appeals are only normally considered if new material evidence is now available, which the student was unable, for valid reasons, to provide earlier in the process.
8.10. Appeals must be made in writing no later than 3 hours of the decision and must be submitted in the normal procedure outlined above. This will normally be handled by the Returning Officer and can be escalated to the External Appeals Officer in some incidences.
8.11. The RO will decide whether to accept (uphold) or reject the appeal, and you will be notified in writing of any resulting action.
8.12. A member of The SU Bath may appeal to the External Appeals Officer (through the Returning Officer) against a ruling of the Returning Officer or their deputies.