Society Annual Elections

• ‍How does a society run an election?
• ‍Elections and appointments
• Exceptions
• What if a group doesn't hold an election?
• Complaints procedure

Society annual elections are a process used to choose a society’ committee for the next academic year. All groups are expected to hold them and groups are asked to run them during the following window:

• Wed 8^th March – Fri 28^th July  
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How does a society run an election?

Societies have some flexibility with how they run elections but they need to adhere by the following ground rules:

• An election run by a society must follow our election and appointment guidelines.
• When submitting the results of an election to the Activities team, the society needs to provide evidence of the election.  
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Elections and appointments

As part of the society annual elections, a group is required to elect their President and Treasurer. All other positions can be elections (using the same process as the President and Treasurer) or appointed. The President and Treasurer must also be student members of the Guild, not Associates.  

It should be the current committee who decide what positions are filled by election/appointment, and they should be able to rationale their decision to both their members and the Activities Team if required.  

If a society member does not feel that justification has been adequately made, they can report it to the Activities team by email activities@exeterguild.com.  
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Exceptions

All societies and student groups are expected to hold elections and nominate/appoint their committee except the following:  

• Student groups registered with the Guild in 2 or 3 2023 – their committee will be carried over unless any changes are emailed to activities@exeterguild.com  
• Postgraduate study societies – Postgraduate study groups will be asked to hold their elections in October 2023.  
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What if a group doesn’t hold an election?

If a group has not elected/appointed their 2023/24 committee by the 28^th July 2023, they will be removed from the Students’ Guild website, their finance access will be frozen, and they will not receive and invite to Freshers 2023.  
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Complaints Procedure

If you as a society/student group member feel that an election or appointment process has not been run or decided fairly, you can contact the Activities team at activities@exeterguild.com and the election may be investigated.  

Whilst under investigation, any positions elected/appointed during that election may be frozen until after the investigation has takin place.