here are a few definitions for elections terms you may not have seen before and faq's that you might have about this election 

who is RON?

RON is not a real person but instead stands for Re-open Nominations. if you vote for them, you are expressing your opinion that the remaining candidates are not suitable for the position.voting for RON means that you are voting against the remaining candidates, and shows that you would prefer to nominate new candidates rather than accept any of the current candidates.if RON wins the election, then it means that the election will be re-opened, and new candidates can be nominated. the election will then be re-run at a later date.

what are candidate manifestos?

just like in a general election, each candidate will create a candidate manifesto. in their manifesto they will outline what their aims are for attending National Conference, what they pledge to do with their time at conference and outline what experience they have that is relevant to the role.

what is Single Transferable Vote (STV)?

Single Transferable Vote is a voting system designed to minimise the number of ‘wasted’ votes.  your vote is initially allocated to your preferred candidate, and then you can also select their second choice, third choice and so on. if your preferred candidate is subsequently eliminated their vote will be passed on to your second choice candidate. if the second choice candidate had already been eliminated, the votes then get transferred to your third choice candidate and so on.

how long does the role last?

the NUS delegate roles last from the period leading up to and including NUS conference. NUS conference is held this year between 6th - 8th april and will take place online. 

do i need to be in my final year?

you can run for NUS delegate at any point during your studies at Kingston

if i get elected, how much do i get paid for this role?

NUS delegate roles are part time unpaid voluntary roles 

what is 'NUS fair representation'? 

at NUS National Conference 2014, a motion called Fair Representation was passed to ensure that all future delegations to national conference would consist of “at least 50% women, rounded down.” in the year 2013/14, women in leadership was an organisational priority for NUS. the motion was submitted as women students are underrepresented in student politics. the motion aims to ensure that women students are able to have a say in national policy, engage with decision making of the highest level, and stand for election should they wish to.

in order for us to comply with these regulations, we ask all candidates running in the election to self-define their gender. when we confirm your nomination, we will ask for you to define your gender. the official definition from NUS is: "All who self-define as women, including (if they wish) those with complex gender identities which include ‘woman’."

this means at least 3 out of the 5 candidates that we send to conference must define as a women. 

fair representation only applies to the delegation we send to National Conference