Dates & Deadlines

Nominations open: Monday 31 August, 9am
Nominations close: Tuesday 8 September, 4pm 

Campaign Period: Tuesday 8 September, 4pm – Thursday 24 September, 11.30am
VUWSA Blackout Period: Tuesday 8 September, 4pm – Thursday 24 September, 11.30am 

Candidate Debates: Wednesday 16 September

Voting opens: Monday 21 September, 9am
Voting closes: Thursday 24 September, 11.30am 

VUWSA General Meeting: Thursday 24 September, 12pm

Blurbs & Photos

After nomination, a blurb and photo must be emailed to communications@vuwsa.org.nz by 10am, Wednesday 9 September at the latest.

Photo: Something similar to an NZ Passport photo – head and shoulders, though smiles are allowed.

Blurb: Strictly 200 words or under. We will cut anything longer off at the 200-word mark. This will be what voters see when they click on your profile on our voting site, and might appear in Salient, so be clear about you and what you can offer.

If you need a photo taken, email communications@vuwsa.org.nz in advance of the Wednesday 10th Sept deadline, and we can take one for you.

Nominations

You must be nominated online, here - between 9am, Monday 31 August - 4pm, Tuesday 8 September. No other nominations will be accepted.

All nominations require two nominators – current students – to be included alongside your nomination. Please get their permission before you add their details!

Please declare any conflicts of interests – ie personal, financial, affiliations to political parties or other interests – when nominating.

To withdraw your nomination, please email returningofficer@vuwsa.org.nz

Eligibility
You must be a current student at Te Herenga Waka in Trimester 1 or 2 of this year to be eligible to run for the Executive. Elected Executives are paid via Honoraria. If you have a work VISA with work conditions, please check that you can be paid honoraria, as this is the only way VUWSA can pay remuneration to elected Executives. Excluding the President, if you are elected and take office, you must be intending to study at Te Herenga Waka in Trimester 1 or 2 of next year.

Campaigning

Campaigning begins 4pm, Tuesday 8 September. You can campaign until voting closes. Voting opens 21 Sept at 9am and runs until 11.30am, 24 Sept.
The voting website link is voting.vuwsa.org.nz - feel free to use it in your marketing!

Spending Limits
2026’s spending limit for those running for President is $250, and those running for all other roles $150. If you are running for multiple roles, the higher spending limit applies, not a combined limit; ie: someone running for President and Treasurer would only have a total spending limit of $250.
Please make note of what you spend on your campaign in the event that it needs to be followed up on.

Limits on Campaigning
This is not exhaustive.
  • Do not put posters up where there aren’t already posters. There’s plenty of noticeboards around campus, use those in the first instance.
  • Don’t put posters up at commercial outlets on campus (without permission), University Staff offices and other restricted areas (without permission) and any toilet/bathroom facilities.
  • Be fair with the spaces provided, don’t touch or cover other candidates’ posters.
  • Do not use sellotape or glue to put your posters up. Use Blu-tack or pin them on the noticeboards – we can give a small amount of Blu-tack, come and see us.
  • Don’t film in the VUWSA Exec room or in visibly VUWSA spaces or events.
  • Don’t use the VUWSA logo or imply VUWSA endorsement.
  • Don’t use VUWSA equipment (ie speakers, microphones, cameras, tech) in your campaigning.
  • If someone has gone overboard with postering or is taking yours down, message returningofficer@vuwsa.org.nz and they will return balance.
Poster Printing
Your campaign can be structured and designed however you like. Have fun with it, be creative.

However, you cannot use the VUWSA logo on your marketing or claim in any way that you are endorsed by VUWSA. We do not endorse candidates across the board, and if you do use the VUWSA logo/VUWSA marketing, you could be subject to a voter penalty.

Regarding printing, VUWSA will print 100 posters total for you (A3 or A4). Email kelburn@vuwsa.org.nz to get them printed, including your document and what size/s you want. The accounts of incumbent VUWSA candidates cannot be used to print any more posters/flyers/election ephemera beyond this 100 limit – this is unfair as not every candidate has access to free printing. If you wish to print more posters, this must be at your own cost outside of the university.

If we learn that a current Exec member has printed posters using their own VUWSA account, this will incur an immediate 10% voter penalty.
We strongly recommend knowing exactly where your posters have been placed, ie: take photos of the locations.
After campaigning is over, be a tidy Kiwi and please take your posters down and remove your flyers.

Blackout

The VUWSA Blackout runs from September 8 at 4pm until voting closes at 11.30am on September 24.

In the interests of fairness to the other candidates running, current VUWSA Executive who are running for the 2027 Exec are not permitted to be on VUWSA social media, appear in Salient or front face at events. If candidates are unsure of the specific rules around the Blackout, contact returningofficer@vuwsa.org.nz for information or clarification in advance. Salient might have lead time on articles, as noted in the past; even if the article was written pre-the Blackout and appeared in the magazine during the Blackout, it will be grounds for a penalty.

Complaints

Every VUWSA election there are complaints from running candidates, their friends or members of university staff regarding breaches of our electoral rules. Our Returning Officer’s job is to sort through these complaints and deem them legitimate or non-legitimate using rules, evidence, available information, and established practice, and if necessary, impose a penalty.

To lay a complaint:
  • Email the Returning Officer at returningofficer@vuwsa.org.nz
  • Provide as much information as possible within your complaint; including but not limited to
    • - The nature of the complaint
    - What rule you believe has been breached
    - Any wider evidence or information you can provide (photos etc are welcome if they apply)
The Returning Officer might come back to you for more details, and depending on the nature of the complaint, might need to talk to you face-to-face.

Complaints must be received initially via the Returning Officer email.

Across a period, the Returning Officer will make a call with the information provided and choose to uphold or not uphold the complaint. This will likely take a couple of days, more if the complaint is very complex or particularly serious.

If the complaint is upheld, a warning or voter penalty will be issued, and both the complainant and the party at fault will be notified, as well as the anonymized information being posted in the candidates' election Facebook group.

Voter Penalties

In the event of a complaint being found to be legitimate, a penalty could be applied to the final number of votes for a candidate. These penalties are case-by-case and cannot be applied retroactively (ie: after the voting results have been announced). This penalty will be applied to the voter tally after results are in, but before they are announced.

There is an automatic 10% voter penalty applied to any candidate who is found to have used their VUWSA account to print posters.
Read our election policy