In order to be eligible to contest one of the roles you must be eligible at the point of election and for the remainder of the 2026/27 academic year.

In order to be eligible to vote or stand for a club or society, you must be a Student Member of the Union and must hold a valid membership to your Society. Associate members are not eligible to vote in these elections.

You must be a current BU Student to be eligible to stand for the Core Committee Roles (President, Communications/Secretary and Treasurer). Any other members of a society can stand for additional roles within a society.

Yes, you can run for multiple roles across different societies and clubs, but can only stand for one Core Committee role within a single society. You are able to run for other roles within other socities too. Just make sure you have a valid membership to stand and vote!

Committee roles are all voluntary. By being a committee member you are volunteering your time to giveback to your club communities and build on experiences.

Being a Committee Member is a great opportunity for you to shape your society. It’s also a great developmental opportunity for you where you’ll learn transferable skills that’ll look great on your CV!

A pledge (or manifesto) is how candidates sell themselves to voters; it sets out their aims and priorities and may also include a little bit about themselves and why they are the best person for the job. Pledge’s become candidates promises to students about what they want to achieve if they are elected so it is important that they are realistic and achievable.

Candidates are asked to submit a 250-word pledge during their nomination.

Once applications open, simply fill out the online form at the top of this page.

Voting will take place online via the SUBU website. SUBU uses the Single Transferable Vote (STV) and Alternative Vote (AV) system which provides voters with much more choice and influence. STV/AV means that candidates do not need to win a majority, but instead must reach a quota/proportion of the vote. The quota is determined by the number of votes cast and the number of positions to be filled. For roles where there is only one position available the quota is half the total number of votes cast + 1. When voting students select their candidates in order of preference and are able to vote for as many or as few as they like. When the voting has closed, Candidates are excluded if it is impossible for them to reach the quota, their votes are then transferred in order of preference, this ensures that fewer votes are wasted.

If you have any questions, or want to have an informal chat about the election, drop us an email at subudemocracy@bournemouth.ac.uk