Staff Council regulations - election of standing committee

Regulations made under Ordinance 27

1. The Secretary shall act as Chief Returning Officer for the elections. The Secretary shall also act as Returning Officer for the elections of members from the Professional Services. The School Managers shall act as Returning Officers for the election of members from the Schools. The Returning Officers shall be responsible for keeping the Electoral Roll. The Secretary shall fix the dates of the elections. If for any reason the Secretary or a School Manager is unable to act, the Principal shall appoint a substitute.
2. Elections shall take place in Semester 1 every three years with the first Elections held under these regulations being held in Semester 1 Academic Year 2017/18 and the next in Semester 1 Academic Year 2020/21.
3. Members of the Standing Committee shall hold office for a period of three years from the first day of January immediately following their election and shall be eligible for re-election, but shall not hold office continuously for a longer period than six years.
4. The Returning Officers shall communicate with electors not less than 14 days before an election calling for nominations and indicating the number of vacancies to be filled, the names of the persons retiring and whether they are eligible for re-election. Nominations shall not be valid unless received by the Returning Officers at least 3 working days before the date of the election. Each nomination shall require the endorsement of two members of Staff Council and confirmation from the candidate that they agree to stand for election.
5. The manner of the election (i.e. paper or online) shall be determined by the Returning Officers, provided that in doing so all members of staff eligible to vote are given the opportunity to vote.
6. Voting will be carried out using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as defined by the Electoral Reform Society (Newland & Britton 1997).
7. Candidates, or their representatives, shall be entitled to be present at the counting or online processing of the votes.
8. The candidates with the highest number of votes in each contest shall be deemed to be elected.
9. In the event of a tie for the last or only place the election shall be decided by the drawing of lots by the candidates involved (or their nominees) in the presence of the Returning Officer.
10. The Returning Officer shall have power to declare a ballot paper (if used) spoiled or invalid and to decide any matter for which provision is not made in these Regulations. He or she shall report to the Staff Council the number of such papers and any decision taken in exercise of this power.
11. A statement of the result of each election shall be published not later than the second day following the election.
12. Casual vacancies may be filled by co-option by the Standing Committee: Provided that a member co-opted to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office only until the next tri-annual election, at which time the casual vacancy shall be filled by election.