Yep… it’s that time of year again. Welcome to the hub for all things Autumn Elections!
This will be updated throughout October and November, and you’ll find everything you would ever need to know here.
What are the elections?
Every Autumn, we elect students to form our Union Assembly – several part-time Officers. They’re voluntary and flexible. Find out more about Union Assembly here.
Nominations open for 2 weeks. Candidates then campaign for student votes. Voting opens at the end of campaigning, and results are announced that evening. Every CSU member is eligible to vote (you’re automatically a member when you start at University of Chester!) and you’ll get an email with a direct link on the day it opens.
Watch our recorded information session below, or come along to an in-person ‘everything you need to know’ event – linked in the Events section.
Roles available
We have 10 part-time Officer roles up for grabs this year. We already elected 4 roles in the Spring, but there’s still plenty left to choose from.
To be eligible for a part-time Officer role, you need to be a current student at the time of election, and remain a UoC student until at least February 2027 (but ideally until May 2027 so you don’t miss any meetings!). You also need to identify as the type of student you’re standing to represent.
The roles we have for election this year are:
- Women’s Officer
- LGBTQIA+ Officer
- Chester Campuses Officer
- Birkenhead Officer
- Warrington Officer
- Sustainability Officer
- Wellbeing Officer
- Societies Officer
- Open Seats x2 (these are custom roles that can be customised to whatever it is you think needs representing on Union Assembly)
Nominations
All you need to do to nominate yourself for a role is fill in a form with your details and answer a couple of questions to let students know why they should vote for you:
- Why do you want to represent students as a part time Officer?
- What would you want to change or improve for students in your role, and why?
- How would you make sure you understand and represent the views of the students you are elected to represent?
We’ve put together some guidance if you need some top tips on filling out your nomination form. Download it below:
Nominations are open from 19th October until the 31st October. Check back here for the link, or we’ll send you an email with the link too (and a reminder, in case you forget).
You can also recommend a friend! If there’s someone you know – even if you’re a UoC staff member – you can send us their details and we’ll let them know someone thinks they’d make a great Officer.
Nominate a friend at any time!
Events
Come along to a session to learn all about the Elections, enjoy our results night, or pop along to a pop-up!
Pop-ups will be happening across all campuses across the nomination and voting period. Come and chat to us, grab a freebie, and learn more about the elections.
Voting
Every University of Chester student can vote in CSU elections! You’ll get an email with a link on voting day, and we’ll be sharing the link across our socials and website too.
Voting opens at 9am on the 11th November and closes at 1pm on the 12th November, so you only have just over 24 hours to cast your vote. Results will be announced that evening. Event details below, or watch live on our Instagram.
If there are more than one candidate per seat, you can vote preferentially – choose a first, second, third (etc) favourite. Watch the video below to understand how the voting system works.
Rules
Chester Students’ Union (CSU) runs Elections that are free, fair, well-organised, and accessible for all University of Chester students.
To help make sure this happens, there are some rules that all candidates must follow. These rules explain what is (and isn’t) allowed during the Election, as well as the complaints process.
You can download the rules below.
Got any questions about voting, nominating, the roles, or anything else about the elections? Drop us an email on csuelections@chester.ac.uk and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
We understand that some of the terms used in elections can be inaccessible if you’re new to Students’ Unions and/or democracy. We’ve made a glossary of terms to explain what everything means, but if there’s anything else you think we’ve missed, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email.
