Legislation
	Regulations
		Guild Election Regulations

Guild Election Regulations

1.	Guild elections shall be conducted in accordance with these Guild Election Regulations.
2.	(a)	The Guild elections shall be held during second semester of each year, jointly with the election of student members of the Senate, Academic Council and other University bodies.
	(b)	During an election or a by-election run by the Guild Council, the University Secretary shall be the Returning Officer, or shall appoint someone to act in that capacity. The Returning Officer has sole responsibility for the conduct of an election and may prescribe any necessary procedures or forms for the conduct of the election, provided they are not inconsistent with the requirements of these Regulations.
	(c)	Only persons who are Financial Guild members as at the date of close of nominations are eligible to nominate for election.
	(d)	Subject to regulation 23 of the Guild Regulations, the tenure of Guild Councillors is limited to a term of 4 years, whether consecutive or cumulative. Upon 4 years of service to the Guild Council, Guild Councillors are not eligible to nominate for election to the Guild Council before a break of 5 consecutive years.
Nominations
3.1	At least two weeks before the close of nominations (or in the case of a by-election, one week before the close of nominations), a notice calling for nominations, stating the deadline for nominations and when and how electors may vote, will be:
	(a)	sent to all persons entitled to vote (“electors”), and may, at the discretion of the Returning Officer, be sent by either post or email; and
	(b)	placed on an official notice board on each campus of the University.
3.2	(a)	Each candidate may supply the Returning Officer with a biography or election statement. The Returning Officer may edit any biography or statement if it exceeds the set limit, or delete parts which in her or his opinion are of a defamatory nature. The Returning Officer shall produce an election broadsheet containing the photograph, where supplied, and biography or statement submitted by each candidate (“Election Broadsheet’”). A photograph of the candidate may be submitted for inclusion in the Election Broadsheet;
	(b)	Candidates for Guild President, Guild Education Vice-President and Guild General Secretary are permitted up to 500 words in their biography or election statement, all other positions are permitted up to 250 words.
3.3	A Guild member may nominate concurrently for the positions of Guild President, Education Vice-President, Council representative and general (Guild) member of Secretariat but shall not be elected at the same time to more than one of these positions. Any candidate who is elected to a position shall then be eliminated from the counting of votes for all subsequent Guild positions in that election.
3.4	Nominations shall be lodged in writing or by email with the Returning Officer no later than the time and the date specified in a notice pursuant to clause 3.1. No nomination shall be valid unless it contains the written or emailed consent of the candidate and is received by the Returning Officer before the close of nominations. The identity of a person who has nominated shall not be disclosed by the Returning Officer before the close of nominations.
3.5	(a)	For the positions of Guild President, Education Vice-President and Guild General Secretary if there is only one candidate, the person shall not be declared elected but instead an election shall be held for that position  in accordance with regulation 4 below;
	(b)	For all other positions, if there is only one candidate, the person shall be declared elected.
Conduct of the Election
4.1	Whenever a ballot is to be held, the Returning Officer shall:
	(a)	hold voting at one or more polling places on each Campus of the University on at least three days on which teaching is scheduled, and allow the opportunity for reply-paid postal voting by students who are unable to attend the campus and who request such a vote; or
	(b)	conduct an electronic ballot, with each student to be sent (at least 5 days prior to the close of voting) a notice detailing the nature of the election and instructions on how to access the electronic voting program, and allow the opportunity for reply-paid postal voting by students who, due to special needs, are unable to access the program and who request such a vote.
4.2	The ballot papers for the positions of Guild President, Education Vice-President and Guild General Secretary shall include a box for each candidate and one for "No candidate".
4.3	No Guild resources shall be used by any Candidate or their agent(s) for the production of election canvassing materials. Election material means any written, printed or photographic material, lettering, voting guide, poster, sign, leaflet, audio or visual display (including any electronic audio or visual display) whether attached to any fixed or mobile structure or not; provided that such material directly or indirectly supports any candidate or has the purpose of causing or opposing the election of any candidate.
4.4	All election material shall bear the name and address of the person under whose authority it is published.
4.5	No person shall remove, alter, deface, obstruct or destroy election material prior to the close of voting, unless authorised by the Returning Officer.
4.6	Within 14 days of the close of nominations the Returning Officer shall make known the format of all ballot papers to any candidate who requests it.
4.7	During the conduct of voting, all candidates must remain at least ten metres from the polling booth, and no person shall display or distribute election material or canvass votes on behalf of any candidate within ten metres of the polling booth. For the purposes of this document, a “polling booth” is taken to include any computer (including any privately owned or laptop computer) or other device capable of accessing the electronic voting program used on, or in the surrounds of, a campus of the University. Any person disobeying this shall first be issued with a formal verbal warning by the polling booth staff. In the case of a second offence the Returning Officer shall issue a formal written warning. If the person persists, the Returning Officer shall refer the matter to the Election Tribunal which shall deal with the matter.
4.8	The following actions shall constitute misbehaviour in an election:
	(a)	interfering unduly with the freedom of speech of a person during an election;
	(b)	obstructing an election meeting;
	(c)	damaging Guild property or fixtures in a manner calculated to affect the conduct of the elections;
	(d)	assaulting or attempting to assault a person in a manner calculated to affect the conduct or outcome of an election;
	(e)	hindering, obstructing or preventing an electoral officer or candidate from discharging a duty or exercising a right under these regulations;
	(f)	defacing, mutilating, removing or interfering with election material belonging to another person without authority of that person or candidate for whom the election material was produced;
	(g)	directly or indirectly attempting to induce an electoral officer to alter the course of an election;
	(h)	interfering with or destroying a validly marked ballot paper, ballot box, lock, seal, electoral roll or other objects;
	(i)	duplicating or concealing a ballot paper;
	(j)	engaging in disorderly conduct on the premises of a polling place or counting place.
4.9	Only Basic and Financial Guild members are eligible to vote. Eligibility to vote is based on enrolment status on the day of the close of nominations. The Returning Officer shall produce a roll of all electors for each election.
Electronic Ballots
5.1	Ballots may be conducted by way of an electronic voting program and determined by way of an electronic vote counting program, where such programs have been approved for use by the University Secretary.
5.2	The University Secretary may approve an electronic voting program for use where they are reasonably satisfied that the program:
	(a)	will allow an elector to show consecutive preferences starting at ‘1’;
	(b)	gives an elector an opportunity to correct any mistakes before processing the elector’s vote;
	(c)	will allow an elector to make an informal vote showing no preferences for any candidate;
	(d)	will not allow a person to find out how a particular elector cast his or her vote; and
	(e)	will not allow an elector to vote more than once for any ballot.
5.3	An electronic voting program shall include access for electors to a voting slip, and (either directly or by way of appropriate links), instructions on how to vote, and the content of the broadsheet.
5.4	The University Secretary may approve an electronic vote counting program for use where he or she is reasonably satisfied that the proper use of the program would give the same result in the scrutiny of votes in an election in accordance with these regulations as would be obtained if the scrutiny were conducted without computer assistance.
Counting and Results
6.1	The positions being contested shall be counted in the following order:
	(a)	Guild President;
	(b)	Education Vice-President;
	(c)	Guild General Secretary
	(d)	Council Representatives
	(e)	General (Guild) member(s) of Guild Council
	(f)	any other positions, in the order determined by the Returning Officer.
6.2	If a majority of valid votes for any election is obtained by "No candidate", the Returning Officer shall declare that no candidate has been elected for that position, and shall reopen nominations and conduct another election. For the purposes of counting votes, “No Candidate” shall be counted as a nominated candidate.
6.3	The counting of votes shall take place as soon as is practical after the close of voting. Each candidate may appoint a person who is an elector (but not a candidate) to act as a scrutineer at the counting of any paper based votes. Any candidate wishing to appoint a scrutineer must notify the Returning Officer before the close of voting. The Returning Officer shall rule on the validity of votes.
6.4	Where there are only two candidates for one position, the candidate with the greatest number of first preference votes shall be duly elected. If the two candidates have received an equal number of votes, the candidate to be elected shall be determined by the Returning Officer by lot.
6.5	Where there are more than two candidates for one position, (including, where applicable,  “No Candidate”) the result of the election shall be determined by the following system of preferential voting:
	(a)	If one candidate has received an absolute majority (half plus one) of the valid votes, he or she shall be duly elected.
	(b)	If no candidate has an absolute majority, the Returning Officer shall eliminate the candidate with the fewest first preference votes and distribute these voting slips among the remaining candidates, including “No Candidate”, in order of the voters' second preference. If one candidate then has an absolute majority of the remaining votes, he or she shall be duly elected.
	(c)	If no candidate then has an absolute majority, this process shall be repeated until one candidate, or “No Candidate” has received an absolute majority, and this candidate shall be duly elected.
	(d)	Whenever two or more candidates have an equal number of votes, and one of them has to be eliminated from the vote, that candidate shall be determined by the Returning Officer by lot.
	(e)	Where the voting slip of an eliminated candidate, including “No candidate”, does not indicate the voter's next preference, that voting slip shall be deemed to be exhausted.
	(f)	Where there is any repetition of a figure or any break in the consecutive numbering of the preferences marked by a voter on a voting slip, only the preference(s) preceding such repetition or break shall be taken into account.
6.6	At the conclusion of the counting of votes the Returning Officer shall declare the results, which shall be distributed on Guild notice boards and in the Guild weekly news sheet. These notices shall include information about the procedures for lodging a complaint or appeal.
Complaints and Appeals
7.1	There shall be an Election Tribunal, consisting of a nominee of the Dean of Law (Chair) and two persons appointed by the Guild Secretariat prior to the calling of nominations. Members of the Tribunal are not permitted to be candidates in the elections or to canvass votes in support of any candidate.
7.2	The Tribunal shall have the power to hear any appeal or complaint lodged with it about the conduct of the election or the validity of the election outcome, based on errors in the electoral processes or misbehaviour of candidates or other persons.
7.3	Any Guild member may appeal or complain to the Election Tribunal with respect to the conduct or outcome of an election for any position. Appeals and complaints may be submitted at any stage between the calling of nominations and five teaching days after the declaration of the result for that position.
7.4	An appeal or complaint may be rejected by the Chair on behalf of the Tribunal where, in her or his view, it is vexatious, trivial or unlikely to have bearing on the election outcome.
7.5	The Tribunal shall follow the principles of natural justice in its deliberations:
	(a)	The student shall be given the opportunity to present her or his case (though this does not necessarily require an oral hearing);
	(b)	The person about whom a complaint is made shall be informed of the details of the complaint and shall have the opportunity to respond;
	(c)	Any member of the Tribunal who has a conflict of interest in hearing a particular case shall withdraw from consideration of that appeal or complaint, and shall be replaced by the person or body who appointed her or him;
	(d)	Where a complaint or appeal is rejected, the Tribunal shall state its reasons, which shall be communicated in writing to the person who lodged the complaint or appeal.
7.6	The Tribunal shall have the power to:
	(a)	dismiss a complaint or appeal;
	(b)	order nominations reopened;
	(c)	declare a nomination or nominations invalid;
	(d)	declare valid a nomination which the Returning Officer did not accept;
	(e)	instruct the Returning Officer to vary or implement an electoral process, provided this is not contrary to the requirements of the Election Regulations;
	(f)	declare that a candidate who was declared elected was not validly elected;
	(g)	declare a candidate validly elected who was not returned elected;
	(h)	declare part of an election invalid and order a new election for that position;
	(i)	declare an election wholly invalid and order new elections;
	(j)	impose a fine or other form of penalty on any candidate or electoral officer. Such fines and penalties may not exceed those allowed for in any University legislation that relates to matters of student misconduct.
7.7	The Tribunal shall make its determination on the outcome of the elections within fourteen days of the deadline for the lodging of appeals and complaints.