Elections season is upon us, and you may have heard some complicated language and terms being used.

Here at Suffolk SU, we strive to make our elections as accessible as possible, so we’ve created a list of words and terms that you might see used during the election, and what they mean.

 

b

Ballot: The slip where a voter places their vote and marks their choice. Unlike national elections, we use online ballot papers during the voting period.

By-Election: A second election held usually in October to elect students into the unfilled Officer roles.

c

Cast: To vote.

Campaign: The act of attempting to gain votes in an election through a variety of means, including using social media, banners, and talking to students.

Candidate: A person who has put themselves forward to compete to be elected into a position.

Canvassing: Similar to campaigning, this is the attempt to gain votes from students.

d

Deputy Returning Officer: The individual responsible for ensuring fairness in the elections. In this set of elections, this role is filled by the Head of Operations, Jacob Love, who you can contact if you have any complaints about the election at j.love@uos.ac.uk.

e

Electorate: The individuals able to vote in an election.

f

FTO/Full Time Officer: The most senior positions we have at the SU - these are elected students who lead the Union for a whole year during a gap year or immediately after their last year of study. They are fully paid and oversee the financial and legal governance of the Union, as well as acting as lead representatives for students. We have two of these roles which are: President of Education and President of Activities and Wellbeing.

l

Liberation Officer: Part Time Officers that represent the interests of their liberation group and advocate on the issues they face as students of these communities and identities at the University. The roles that are defined as Liberation Officers are BAME Officer, LGBTQ+ Officer, Womens’ Officer and Students’ with Disabilities Officer.

m

Manifesto: A document outlining the aims of the candidate, including policies and goals for their year in office.

Member: Every student at the University of Suffolk is automatically made members of the Students' Union, so all students are members.

n

Nominations: This is the period of time in the Students' Union elections where students can put themselves forward for one of the roles in the elections, i.e. 'nominate' themselves.

o

Officer: The Officer team is made up of 15 Officers: two Full Time (or Sabbatical) Officers, and thirteen Part Time Officers who are all students, elected by students, to represent student interest and improve the University experience.

p

PTO/Part Time Officer: Students who have been elected by you to work on a voluntary basis alongside their studies. They each have a specific role or focus and work closely with the Students' Union to improve the student experience. All School, Liberation, and Widening Access Officers, are classed as ‘Part Time Officers’.

President: This term is interchangeable with Full Time Officer and Sabbatical Officer. They are your leaders of the SU and there are two President roles, President of Education and President of Activities and Wellbeing.

r 

R.O.N: R.O.N. or Reopen Nominations is an additional option if you don’t feel any of the candidates are suitable for the position. R.O.N. appears in every election.

s 

Sabb/Sabbatical Officer: Another name for Full Time Officer. One of the two Full Time Officer positions (President of Education & President of Activities and Wellbeing) that you can run for. Each officer holds their position for one year, or two if they run for re-election and are successful.

School Officer: Part Time Officers that represent the interests of their school or department at the University. The roles that are defined as School are Technology, Business and Arts Officer, Allied Health & Sciences Officer, Postgraduate Officer, Social Sciences and Humanities School Officer and Nursing, Midwifery & Public Health Officer.

Self-Define: The act of identifying yourself as a particular kind of person or belonging to a certain group.

STV/Single Transferable Vote: The voting system used by the Students’ Union. This system gives voters the ability to rank their candidates in order of preference.

Slate: Two or more candidates who campaign together.

q

Quorate: Having the necessary number of people present for decisions to be allowed to be made.

w

Widening Access Officer: Part Time Officers that represent the interests of their widening access group and advocate on issues they face as students of these communities and identities at the University. The roles that are defined as Widening Access are Mature Students’ Officer, Students’ with Caring Responsibilities Officer, Part Time Students’ Officer and International Students’ Officer.