ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2021 ELECTION SEASON FOR THE 2022 SRC

Date:  16 August 2021           

Dear Student                                                                      

The time has come for the 2021 SRC elections season to commence. The 2021 SRC elections will take place in the midst of extraordinary circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 SRC Elections will be conducted fully online as it was done in 2020, building on the e-voting success that has been built over the past years. The decision was taken to make sure that the negative impact of COVID-19 is minimised and curtailed.

Election Dates

In accordance with Annexure A 2(4) of the Constitution for Student Governance (CSG), the purpose of this letter is to serve as an official announcement, and to declare the 2021 Student Representative Council (SRC) election season open. The 2021 election season starts today, on 16 August 2021, and will run for six-weeks, culminating into the three days of e-voting from 27-29 September 2021.

 

Election Structures

The 2021 SRC elections will be administered in terms of the Constitution for Student Governance (CSG) as approved by the University Council on 24 June 2020. The Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) in accordance with the constitution for Student Governance (CSG) will manage the elections. Mr Michael Makobe has been appointed as the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) and he can be reached using the following contact details: Mobile: +27 (0) 71 200 2381, Email: [email protected]. A dedicated email address is also created to allow students to send all queries related to this season of elections: [email protected]. All election-related structures have been established accordingly, including the IMB and the student IEC. An external auditing firm has been appointed to monitor the electoral procedures and processes.

 

Nominations for Students to participate in the 2020 SRC Election

Nominations open on 16 August 2021 and close on 27 August 2020 at 16h00. Prospective candidates should make sure that relevant nomination forms are duly completed and submitted to the Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) electronically by 27 August, in order to be considered as a candidate in this election season. In line with the rules in the CSG, no late submissions will be accepted.

 

Nomination Forms:

• The nomination process will be digitised and conducted through ClickUP. 
• Nomination forms will be available on ClickUP. 

• Aspects of the nomination process such as the collection of support signatures will be done online via ClickUP. All guidelines will be provided on time.
• Digitising the process ensures that timestamps, signature authentication and other important information is verified, creating a process that has stronger integrity.
• Students will apply to run as candidates and will be vetted based on CSG requirements and will be announced as candidates on various digital platforms, including ClickUP.
• Students will be assisted with data requirements as needed to run their campaigns effectively and to support the candidature of their peers.

 

Elective Portfolios

Nominations are open for the following elective portfolios:

• President
• SRC Secretary
• SRC Treasurer
• Facilities, Safety & Security
• Marketing, Media & Communications
• Study Finance
• Postgraduate & International Student Affairs
• Day Student & External Campus Affairs
• Societies
• Transformation and Student Success

 

Digital Campaigning:

• A fully digitised campaigning process will be launched, including all the traditional aspects of the elections, with additional aspects to assist candidates to have a wider reach within the student body.
• All arrangements are in place and digitisation guidelines will be communicated to all candidates to guide preparations for online campaigning.
• Candidates will be assisted in creating e-manifestos that will be recorded and presented on ClickUP and relevant additional platforms.
• Debates will be hosted on virtual conference platforms, with an opportunity to live stream on Facebook and to ensure that there is a wide reach. Through these virtual conference platforms, students will be able to interact with candidates and ask them questions and receive their responses. Additionally, call-in interviews on TuksFM will provide another level of interaction.
• Candidates will be assisted to take photos that will be used to create e-posters. The same photos will be used for the PDBY special edition. Candidates will also be assisted to shoot videos that they will use to advance their campaigns and to make their manifestos known to their peers.

Voting Process:

Continuous voter education will be provided using available communication platforms to ensure that voters are informed, ready and able to cast their votes.

Here is a snapshot of the actual voting process: 

• At the start of the voting period, you will receive login details through your @tuks.co.za Gmail account
• To begin voting, you will need to log into the SRC elections voter portal using the login details provided.
• Once you are logged onto the SRC elections voter portal, you will have access to ten ballots.
• On each ballot, cast your vote for your preferred candidate, and click submit after you have reviewed your selections.
• After submitting your votes, you can download a paper copy of your receipt.

 

We encourage you to participate and there are at least four critical ways in which you should make your mark in this election season:

1. You can avail yourself as a candidate to stand for the elections, you complete the nomination form, submit on time and run for one or two of the portfolios in the SRC
2. You can support those who want to run by seconding their nomination on time
3. You can attend sessions where candidates share their manifestos, get to know each one of them and what they stand for long before you get to vote for them
4. You should make sure that you cast your ballot on 27-29 September from 07h00-19h00, on one of those three days allocated to e-voting.

We call on each of you to participate and vote in this round of elections to enhance democracy and good governance on UP campuses, and to make sure that we have strong and capable student leaders. 

Be on the lookout for further information in this regard. There will be announcements in the PDBY, TuksFM, UP website and UP’s official social media platforms, on the student portal and intranet, on the UP mobile APP and on SRC and sub-structures social media accounts. PDBY will produce a special edition of the 2021 Elections, both online and in print, with details of all the qualified candidates and their manifestos.  We implore all of you to pay attention and participate at every step of the process.

 

We look forward to your full commitment and participation to ensure that these processes enjoy the highest level of integrity.  

 

The Constitution for Student Governance has opened channels for broad participation in the SRC from all spheres of student life; this is now the time to make your vote count. The DSA, supported by all departments in the University, is committed to make sure that all election processes enjoy the highest level of integrity, and that we end up with election results that are free and fair.

 

For all enquiries regarding any of the processes, send an email to this address: [email protected]

 

Dr Matete Madiba

Director: Student Affairs