Election Events

Drop ins before nominations close 

• Wednesday 7th October, 12pm – 2pm (Courtyard) 

• Wednesday 14th October, 2pm – 3pm https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/368588291227951?p=2MxKJidhmJjfgB1QUr

After nominations close

• Candidate Briefing – Tuesday 20th October, 12pm https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/367348154540642?p=RfkXenYW1IjWTz3U0y 

• Manifesto & Campaign workshop – Wednesday 21st October, 1pm – 2pm https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/36701538619802?p=lJ6KvWyMu3ibRxjISi 

How do I get in touch?  

For questions about the election or technical issues, email studentsunion@aub.ac.uk or the Returning Officer cbaker@aub.ac.uk.  

Candidate Information  

Candidate expenditure & allowance  

• Part time candidates can spend up to £15 but will not be reimbursed. Like full time candidates, part time candidates must also provide receipts. The deadline for these to be submitted is 12pm on Thursday 29th October 2026. Candidates must send an email to studentsunion@aub.ac.uk outlining their spend, the reason why and the attached receipts.  

All receipts must include VAT.  

Even if you spend nothing on your campaign you still need to indicate this to AUBSU before the deadline.   

As outlined in the rules please ensure that any campaign material is accessible to all candidates (eg if you dad owns a t shirt printing factory you cannot use this as not all candidates have access and this could be seen as bias as you are able to provide better quality promotional materials than other students have access to).  

Printing allocation  

All candidates are entitled to 10 x A3 colour posters and 15 x A4 colour posters on behalf of the union. These must be emailed at least a working day before candidates want these available. Any other printing must be done out of the candidate’s allowance. Any additional printing must be indicated in a candidate’s expenditure based off AUBs printing costs. Eg if you print 20 A4 coloured posters that is £1 of your campaign spending gone. Please be mindful of sustainability and consider digital campaigning.  

Printing costs  
Colour:  
A4: 5p per page  
A3: 10p per page 

AUBSU Support  

During voting/campaigning week we have a few opportunities on offer to help promote your campaign.  

• 1 repost for each candidate (tag us in the one you want us to repost)  

• Q&A blog post (this will be going live on Monday 26th October and will be made up of questions submitted by students)  

• Role take over on our social media (30 second Instagram story) 

All candidates are able to send a 30 second Instagram video before the deadline via wetransfer to AUBSU that they want used in their social media takeover. Candidates can have creative licence over these videos but should think about captioning, their name, role they are running for and a link to a campaign page or our website). 

Candidate advice & reminders  

• This is a fun positive opportunity so work with us to keep it this way  

• Be understanding and aware of other cultures and experiences.  

• Make sure you are always respectful, inclusive and your campaigning is accessible (particularly digitally).  

• If you want to campaign alongside someone else that’s okay but please be aware you both might not get in and your budget is your own you cannot share resources.  

• Make your campaign material eye catching, use visuals and logos.  

• Be aware that your material may be taken down by AUB staff or ruined by the weather and this is not in our control.  

• If using social media to campaign you can only create these accounts once campaigning has begun.  

• Talk to people, showcase your experience and skills, have strong original policies, be inventive but most importantly be yourself.   

Candidate support  

• Look after yourself during elections, although exciting it can be stressful and busy. Nourish yourself, stay hydrated.  
• Take breaks  
• Plan something nice for yourself 
• Connect with others  
• Come along to our engagement events or book a meeting with Charlotte if you need extra support. 
• AUB and AUBSU are here for you. Do use university services such as student services & report and support if you need to.   

Rules and Regulations 

1. Any activity or campaign material that is illegal, breaches university rules, policies or union byelaws, policies, constitution or GDPR is deemed to be in breach of the election rules.   
2. The university is still a place of work for students and staff alike during the election period. Candidates must not do anything to disrupt day to day operations of the university.   
3. Campaign material, including adhesives and activities must not cause damage to university property and must be removed by the end of campaigning.   
4. Campaigning is forbidden in learning spaces such as the library, quiet spaces and classrooms.   
5. Any candidates that are delivering campaigning that could result in health and safety implications must have an approved risk assessment from AUBSU.  
6. Candidates must not pressure or bribe students to vote nor whom they should vote for. This includes use of others mobile devices. They must not tamper with campaign material of other candidates.  
7. Candidates should seek permission from staff to campaign in class. Although staff can allow candidates to campaign in class, staff should not endorse particular candidates and should signpost to the election and the AUBSU website.   
8. Candidates must not use AI generated imagery.  
9. Clubs and societies must ensure that all candidates have access to their membership if desired. Those who hold elected union roles such as committee positions must not endorse candidates using those roles, nor are union affiliated pages allowed to endorse particular candidates. Groups & individuals are allowed to promote candidates as long as all candidates can be promoted if/when requested.  
10. Private group chats (non-academic groups) are allowed to be used as a method of promotion for candidates but if requested all candidates are entitled to access said group to promote their campaign.   
11. All campaign material, including university printing, must be accounted for and declared with suitable receipts to studentsunion@aub.ac.uk by the declared deadline.  
12. Any expenditure must be on activity or items that all candidates could reasonably have had the opportunity to buy or carry out.   
13. Physical campaigning or material cannot manifest before the beginning of campaigning outlined in the election’s timeline (this includes social media account creation and promotion).  
14. All candidates must attend candidate briefing in order to be allowed to participate in the election.   
15. Candidates must respect the decision of the Returning Officer/Deputy Returning Officer in matters of the election.   

Any candidates found to be in breach of these rules will be at risk of the below sanctions.   

1 – Informal written warning: Email notification of complaint received or breach of rules, not recorded. Reminder of the rules issued.   

2 – Formal written warning: Email notification of complaint received or breach of rules, recorded on election record. Final chance before increase in sanctions.  

3 – Suspension of campaigning: Determined by DRO, communicated via email. Failure to do so will result in sanction 4.  

4 – Removal of candidacy.   

This will be determined by the Deputy Returning Officer and Returning Officer.  

Complaints  

If a student/candidate feels another candidate or their campaign team has breached one or more of the above rules they can submit a complaint. The deadline to submit complaints is Thursday 29th October at 5pm. Each complaint will be reviewed and investigated and then either approved or rejected. If approved a sanction will be applied to the candidate being complained about. In both cases the complainer will be informed of the outcome.  

When complaining students/candidates should aim to do this within 24hrs of the original issue. If the complainer is unhappy with the outcome they can appeal to the Returning Officer – Charlotte Baker, Students’ Union Manager.  

The Deputy Returning Officer for the Leadership Elections 2026 is Cass de St.Croix, Student Voice Co-ordinator at AUBSU, Charlotte Baker is the Returning Officer as the Students’ Union Manager at AUBSU. Both are responsible for the conduct and delivery of the elections on the ground and are your first port of call.  

Please note any complaints submitted after the deadline will not be considered. There is also a risk that results may be delayed if not fully completed before results night.