Why no USI hustings on campus?

USI has traditionally recognised only one official hustings event for USI election candidates – the one which takes place at 8pm on the first night of Comhdháil and has done for at least 22 years.

It’s true that individual students’ unions have in the past hosted their own hustings on campus, with USI candidates vying to secure pledged or ‘mandated’ votes. These were entirely unofficial from USI’s standpoint and as an organisation we were silent on them – some years providing a service to inform candidates of the campus hustings, some years not.

This year, students’ unions were asked, by the President, to consider skipping in-person hustings on campus. In return, USI would provide an opportunity for each candidate to submit a video and responses to key questions, based on the most commonly asked questions at hustings each year. Those videos have been published.

There were several reasons for the request to SUs to skip on campus hustings but most importantly:

1. It is felt that the cost of hustings is an accessibility issue

Because these are unofficial events, USI does not contribute financially to the costs of attending the hustings. Because member campuses are all over the island, so are our candidates. Any candidate from Northern Ireland, for instance, might be forced to travel for the whole day at their own expense, and vice versa across the whole country. It was felt that, whilst this might be alright for a sabbatical officer on a salary, it is likely to exclude or cause hardship to candidates seeking election as a student, which is their right.

2. It was felt that time away from campus is a problem at this time of year

The run up to Easter is a stressful time for students and access to services peaks in many SUs at this time. By reducing the travel requirement for candidates, it was felt they would be more on campus to do their current jobs or concentrate on their studies if they’re students.

The decision to step away from on-campus hustings was not strictly speaking a policy decision of USI, because USI has no view on Hustings. It was an agreement arrived at by most students’ unions at a workign group level. It was always clear that an individual SU could decide to depart from the agreement and host their own hustings if they felt it necessary. In fact, we are aware of two SUs who have stepped away from the agreement, and are either hosting hustings on campus or online.

USI Official Hustings is at Congress
At USI Official Hustings, as usual, candidates will give speeches and be required to answer up to three questions submitted by delegates representing students. Whilst each SU is free to consider their own method for selecting, pledging or mandating votes for candidates at USI elections, the elections themselves are independent secret ballot polls.

How do I get my name on the ballot?

To ensure that your name is on the ballot, you need to receive two nominations from SU Presidents at USI’s member organisations. If you are running for the role of a Regional Vice President, both these member organisations must be located in the region for which you are running.

Nominations must be sent to the USI Elections Subcommittee at elections@usi.ie with a letter, signed by the President, on Union headed paper saying that they nominate you. This letter should include:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your phone number
• The position you are running for

Nominations must be submitted before a deadline which is likely to be in January 2024.

Am I eligible to run for election?

All candidates running for election must be registered students or sabbatical officers at one of USI’s member organisations. If you are a student in a USI affiliated college – you’re good to go!

How does voting work?

Voting for the USI Coiste Gnó elections is done by registered delegates attending Comdháil via a secret paper ballot. Each delegation comprises of students from one of USI’s member organisation. Each member organisation has a proportional number of delegates to the size of their college, where 1 delegate represents 1,000 students.

Each member organisation distributes their votes differently. Some MO’s allow delegates a free vote, meaning that the delegate can vote for whoever they wish, while other delegations follow a mandate system.

What’s a mandate?

A mandate is where delegates are mandated to vote in a particular way. Some unions operate a “winner takes all” mandate, where the candidate who recieves the most votes in their local hustings will receive all of the votes from that unions delegation. Other unions operate proportional mandates, where if a candidate recieves 75% of first preference votes in their local hustings, that candidate will recieve votes from 75% of that unions delegation.

Most mandated votes are decided by local hustings, which take place in the member organisation. They are either voted on by a class rep council or are opened to the entire student body for a vote. 

The Terms and Conditions of Officership form the main part of the contract with the officer.

Sample USI Officership Terms & Conditions 2022