Clubs Academy 16 how to hold an election

Annual General Meetings Must be held before 1 st April each year Treasurer delivers financial reports for the year Membership fee for following year is decided Any changes to constitution are agreed upon New committee is elected

Before you even start Tell all your members about the AGM well in advance, and give them the opportunity to stand for election. Only current Stirling Students may stand for committee positions. Make sure your meeting is quorate! This means you have to have a simple majority of 50% +1 of your total membership. Only currently University of Stirling Students have voting status. If you are unsure how to count votes, or how to hold an AGM please ask a Sabbatical Officer, or Part Time Officer to come along. We are happy to help!

Treasurer's report Start of year balance Membership fee/number of members Notable expenditure End of year balance

Membership Fee/Constitutional Changes These are voted on by simple majority. The AGM must be quorum with at least 50% +1 of all paid student members in attendance. Voting is done by show of hands.

Electing a New Committee  Uncontested Elections:  For uncontested elections, give candidates 1 minute to speak. They then leave the room and the vote is cast by a show of hands.  It is a simple, yes/no vote, however people may abstain from voting if the wish.

Uncontested Elections Votes in favour: 32 Votes against: 2 Abstentions: 1 Jenny is elected. Votes in favour: 12 Votes against: 18 Abstentions: 5 Jenny is not elected. Example The law society had 50 members, 35 come to the AGM (the meeting is therefore quorate).Jenny is running as the only candidate for Law Society Secretary. She speaks for a minute then leaves the room.

Electing a New Committee - Contested  A contested election is when two or more people are running for the same position.  Remember to make sure your meeting is quorate!  This means you have to have a simple majority of 50% +1 of your total membership. Only currently University of Stirling Students have voting status.

Electing a New Committee - Contested  The union operates under the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) voting system.  This means that voters number candidates in order of preference. 1 being their first choice, 2 being their second choice and so on.  There is also and extra candidate in every election. RON, which stands for Re-Open Nominations.  This is for voters to select if the do not thin any candidates standing are appropriate.  Each candidate should be offered the same amount of time to speak.

Contested Elections  Alban, Lauren and Wendy are standing in the Drama Society AGM.  They all wish to go for the role of Head of Events. They each speak for one minute and return to their seats. Voters are then each given a piece of paper with which to cast their vote.  Ballot papers should look like this:  Head of Events  Alban  Lauren  Wendy  R.O.N

Ballot papers Head of Events Wendy Head of Events Lauren Head of Events Alban 1 Lauren Wendy 2 R.O.N Head of Events Alban 3 Lauren 2 Wendy 1 R.O.N Head of Events Alban 4 Lauren 1 Wendy 2 R.O.N 3 Head of Events I don’t care

Counting the otes  Once you have counted all the valid ballot papers, write down the total and you can work out the quoracy.  In this scenario Drama have 44 Student Members. 39 are present at the meeting, so therefore the meeting is quorate.  Of that 39, candidates will have to achieve a certain number of votes in order to be successful in the election. There is a simple method of calculating the number of votes required. In this election there are 38 valid votes cast and 1 spoiled ballot. (38/(1+1))+1 = 19+1 = 20 Candidates would need 20 votes to be successful in this election

Counting the Votes  You count the votes with everyone’s first preference.  Alban - 18  Lauren - 5  Wendy - 12  R.O.N - 3 As none of the candidates reached 20 votes, the candidate with the lowest number is eliminated and their second preference is added to the remaining candidates. Votes are then re-counted

Counting the Votes  You count the votes with eliminated candidate's second preference.  Alban - 19  Lauren - 5  Wendy - 14  R.O.N - As none of the candidates reached 20 votes, the candidate with the lowest number is eliminated and their second preference is added to the remaining candidates (if second preference is already eliminated, go to their third preference. Votes are then re-counted

Counting the Votes  You count the votes with eliminated candidate's second preference.  Alban - 23  Lauren -  Wendy - 15  R.O.N - As Alban has passed quoracy (20 votes) he has been elected.

Once you have you new committee  Send a list of your new committee to   Organise a hand-over workshop for outgoing committee to impart their wisdom onto new committee members.  Remind the new committee to attend Clubs Academy so they can get a better idea of how to run a society.

Thank You! Keep an eye out for future club development next semester