Society endorsements
Societies are able to endorse candidates in elections, and use their reach to help those candidates’ campaigns, as long as this was decided democratically.
For example, posting on the societies social media pages that the society officially backs that candidate.
Societies cannot spend personal or society funds on that candidates’ campaign, and the candidate remains responsible for any campaigning the society does on their behalf, to ensure they also abide by election rules.
To endorse a candidate, the society committee need to hold a democratic vote and achieve a majority vote, and then document this on the form below.
If this process is not followed, this could potentially lead to a sanction to that candidate if it is decided the candidate received an unfair advantage.
Why Endorse?
Normally, candidates cannot use societies to promote their campaign, as this is not a resource guaranteed to all candidates. However, with a formal endorsement, you get to use your platform to influence Elections in favour of the candidates you feel best represent the needs of your society.
Once formally endorsed, you are able to post and share their campaign materials on your society social media pages, and you are able to email your members to encourage them to vote for your choices – please do not give them access to your account log ins, just get them to send you the things they would like sharing.
step by step guide
step one – meet with your society’s committee. This could be in person, in teams, or in a group chat.
step two – look at the eligible nominees, and discuss who you think would be a good fit. We encourage you to treat it like a meeting with agenda points. you’ll need to discuss if you would like to endorse the following:
- Full time Societies and Activities
- Part time Societies and Activities (first choice)
- Part time Societies and Activities (second choice)
- Full time Education
- Part time Education (first choice)
- Part time Education (second choice)
- Full time Equalities and Wellbeing
- Part time Equalities and Wellbeing (first choice)
- Part time Equalities and Wellbeing (second choice)
You do not have to have to endorse someone for every role, but we recommend discussing it and voting to not endorse any candidate and documenting this the same way.
You can email elections@ucbguild.co.uk if you want to add an endorsement later, but we ask that you do not change/remove endorsements once a decision has been made without discussing with a member of Guild Elections team first.
However, if you do decide to remove an endorsement, you do not have to wait for us to remove any social media posts.
The Endorsement form will be posted on this page once candidates have been announced, as well as emailed directly to society leaders.