Running in an election is a great chance to get more involved in the union by representing your fellow students.

Voting in elections is quick and simple, and means that you are having a say on who represents you, in everything from academic issues to campus events and socials. Elections happen once every term, with voting taking place in Week 8!

Why do we run elections?

As your representative body, we make sure that we are student-led, with you guys at the heart of everything we do. Your elected Full-Time Officers are trustees and directors of the union and our commercial services, and the Executive Committee is made up of elected student representatives. We run elections for different positions in the union every term.

Can I run?

Any student can run to be an officer, but there are additional rules and regulations for certain groups of people. Check out our specific guidance for International, EU and Postgraduate students.

Nominations

When nominations open each term, candidates can nominate themselves by logging in at www.lancastersu.co.uk/nominations

Voting

We use the single transferrable voting method (STV). This means that at least a majority of voters (over 50%) must prefer a candidate before they can win. For voters, it means that you don’t just vote for your favourite candidate, but you can also let us know who is your second favourite, third favourite, and so on.

• Log in to lancastersu.co.uk/vote with your university login details.
• Vote by ranking your preferences: 1 indicates your preferred candidate, 2 your second, and so on. Rank as many or as few candidates as you choose, or none at all.
• Candidates need over 50% of the vote to win. If no one achieves this the first time around, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the other candidates.
• This process continues until, by gaining the later preferences of voters, a candidate exceeds the 50% required and is declared the winner.