Your voice matters: Voting is now open for the Bristol Students’ Union elections

Today, Monday 9th March, marks the first day of voting for the Bristol University SU elections.

For most of students, the elections seem to appear suddenly – the campus is quickly covered in posters and stickers, Senate House is full of candidates, and signs appear advertising that it is “Time to Vote”. However, the elections represent an important moment in the student calendar, giving students the opportunity to choose who will represent their voices over the next year.

On Friday 6th March, The Bristol Tab was invited to the first media day held by the SU in the run-up to voting. Candidates for the Full-Time Officer roles (salaried year-long positions) were invited to speak to student media outlets to share campaigns and answer questions relating to their roles ahead of the voting period.

The introduction of the media day highlights efforts this year to increase the visibility of the elections and to provide candidates with a platform to engage with the student body about their manifestos.

Speaking to the candidates for the Student Living Officer, Elliot Green gave an insight into the experience of running in the elections. Elliot said: “What isn’t seen is behind the scenes there is a bigger community that is built in the process, it is a great time hanging out together. Even if you don’t win, [running for election] is still absolutely worth your time, it really pushes you as a person.”

Despite the competition between candidates, many emphasised their shared motivation to improve aspects of the university experience. As students themselves, the candidates are closely aware of issues affecting the student body. Therefore, each full-time officer position allows students to elect representatives responsible for different areas of student life.

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The candidates also all expressed their drive to engage with students to share their manifestos and relay what they can individually do to improve the university.

Mary Okeke, a candidate for the International Students Officer role, said, despite candidates “[having] limited things we can do” with “rules and guidelines”, her ultimate goal is to communicate with students in order to “get people to vote for you at the end.”

Jasper Daniel, who is running for Equality, Liberation, and Access Officer, explained that: “[Some students aren’t] even aware elections were happening soon […] so the difficulty is that the people we are trying to represent do not even know that this is going on.”

Information regarding candidates and manifestos are available on the SU website now, allowing students to learn more about those standing for election and their priorities for the year ahead. The elections determine who will lead the SU and represent students, meaning that your participation can play an important role in shaping new changes to university life.

Students can vote online, and visit in-person polling stations across campus before the deadline at 9pm on Thursday 12th March.

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