Elections rules & complaints

We’ll cover the rules in more detail at the Candidates Briefing (attendance is compulsory for all candidates), but please carefully read the information on this page, so you know what the rules are and don’t end up breaking them by accident.

If you break the rules, it may have serious consequences like a temporary campaigning ban, or even disqualification from the election. If you are unsure about anything please check, we’re always happy to answer questions and provide clarifications – just email us on su-elections@qmul.ac.uk.

Here’s a summary of the main things you need to know:

General Conduct & Behaviour

• All candidates must follow the elections rules, must behave in a respectful manner during all stages of the elections, and must not do anything that could undermine the free, fair and democratic running of the elections.
• You must not campaign in a way that brings the Students’ Union into disrepute with students, the university or any external body.

Campaigning Methods & Materials

• All legal means of campaigning are allowed (including on-campus campaigning, social media and other forms of online campaigning), unless stated otherwise in the Students’ Union’s bye-laws, the Candidates Hub, QMUL’s rules for student conduct, or in rulings issued by the Returning Officer or their deputy.
• All the rules set by QMUL and the Students’ Union and any relevant legislation also apply during the elections and cover all your campaigning activities and promotional materials. For example, you must not damage property by placing any stickers, glue or sello tape on furniture or buildings (always use blu-tack) or covering any signage with your promotional materials. Another example is health and safety rules – for example, you must not block any fire exits.
• You must not use any electronic sound equipment such as loudspeakers or loud hailers when campaigning.
• You must not hold prize draws or use giveaways (regardless of whether these items are pre-owned, donated or purchased for the purpose of elections) to incentivise voting in general, or incentivise votes for a specific candidate. Giveaways of items of negligible value (such as sweets) is permitted, as long as these items are not given away in exchange for votes.
• You must not remove, damage or change promotional materials belonging to other elections candidates (for example, you must not draw on their materials or cause damage to their materials).

Campaigning Timings & Briefing Attendance

• You are permitted to start your campaign after the Candidates Briefing. You must not buy any campaigning materials, or undertake any forms of free campaigning (including social media posts) before the Candidates Briefing.
• You are required to attend the Candidates Briefing. If you’re unable to attend the in-person briefing, you’ll be required to complete an online briefing to remain a candidate in the election.

Supporters & Student Groups

• You are welcome to have a group of supporters to help you with your campaign, but these must be full members of the Students’ Union (so that means they must be current QM students). Your supporters can’t be staff members, family or friends outside QM.
• If you have any supporters helping you with your campaign, it’s your responsibility to tell them about the election rules (it might be a good idea to get them to read this page), and it may have consequences for you if your supporters break the elections rules (even if you were unaware, or didn’t instruct them to break the rules).
• Student groups that are part of the Students’ Union (such as societies and sports clubs) cannot endorse candidates or groups of candidates. This includes, but is not limited to, a student group using their grants or subs account to support candidates’ activities, or endorsing candidate(s) through their mailing list or social media accounts. For further information about student group endorsements, please refer to the student group section below.

Restricted Areas & Staff Rules

• You must not campaign in the libraries, labs (including computer labs) or any other space that a staff member has instructed you to not campaign in. You must not block any doors or access ways.
• Student staff members employed by the Students’ Union (for example, students that work in Ground or Qmotion) and Students’ Union Executive Officers must not campaign during working hours, and must not use any resources provided by the Students’ Union (such as uniforms, access to printing or mailing lists) for the purpose of campaigning.

Voting Conduct

• During voting, you must not be present when a student is voting. If a student is using their phone, laptop or another device to vote, you must step away from them and allow them to cast their votes without you guiding them or looking at their votes.

Finance & Budget

• You must not exceed the allocated candidate budget. Not even if you are willing to pay more out of your own money. You must keep all receipts and be prepared to submit these on request. For further information about the candidate budget, please refer to the Getting students to vote for you page.

Read the elections bye-laws

Following policy passed by students, Student Groups are not allowed to endorse candidates who are running in the Students’ Union elections. Endorsement means encouraging others to vote for a particular candidate, highlighting a particular candidate’s manifesto, suggesting that a particular candidate is the best choice for a role, allowing a particular candidate to contact or speak to members, or providing any other assistance to a particular candidate. To find out more, click on the button below.

Download guide

If someone submits a complaint about your behaviour in the elections, the Returning Officer will investigate the complaint in line with the process set out in the Elections Bye-Law.

If it is found that one or more elections rules have been broken, the Returning Officer may impose one or more sanctions as appropriate which may include but are not limited to the following:

• Removal or confiscation of campaign material
• A reprimand and a warning that a further breach could result in a more severe sanction
• Requiring a candidate and their supporters to stop campaigning for a set period of time (this may also include a temporary suspension of a candidate on the elections system, so they are unable to receive votes during the temporary campaigning suspension)
• Requiring a candidate to issue an apology to one or more fellow candidates, or to the whole student body
• Disqualification from the election
• Referral for consideration under the Students’ Union’s Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedure

Where a breach of election rules has occurred which would have resulted in a suspension of campaigning/voting but was committed, reported, or investigated too close to the end of the campaigning period, for a suspension to be applied, the Returning Officer may remove votes received by the candidate in proportion to the duration of the suspension that would have been imposed. For example, if voting was open for 78 hours and the candidate received 100 votes, their average vote was 1.28 votes per hour. If the suspension would have been 10 hours, the Returning Officer would remove the average vote for each hour, in this case 12.8 votes (rounded up to the nearest whole number) so 13 votes, and the final result for that candidate would be 87 votes.

When you run in an election, you’re putting yourself and your ideas in the spotlight, and it is to be expected that some students will disagree with you. While political debates are encouraged, we do not tolerate abuse or harassment, so if you think someone is being abusive toward or harassing you (or your campaign supporters), we encourage you to seek support and guidance from the Elections Team (email us on su-elections@qmul.ac.uk). In some cases, there may be grounds for a complaint to the Deputy Returning Officer or the University, and we can guide you through these processes.

How can I submit a complaint?

If you wish to make a complaint, it is important that you can present evidence of your claims. The type of evidence will depend on the situation, but you could, for example, take screenshots or photos or provide witnesses that saw what happened. Even if you do not have any evidence, our team is here to support you, so don’t hesitate to reach out for support if something has happened!

Complaints can be made by completing the online complaints form. To ensure that complaints can be investigated in a timely manner, we ask you to submit your complaint as soon as possible after the incident has happened. Complaints about campaigning must be submitted no later than 5pm on Thursday 26 March 2026 (an hour after the voting period has ended). Complaints about the elections count must be submitted within 24 hours of the declaration of results. Late complaints will not be accepted.

Complaints form