YOUNG FABIAN EXECUTIVE ELECTION 2020/21

 

This has been compiled by Adam Allnutt, Carolina Saludes and Nathaneal Amos-Sansam for the Young Fabians Executive Committee Elections to be held in 2020. 

 

For the purpose of the election, the aforementioned outgoing members of the current executive will act as the returning officers and adjudicate, with the final decision going to Adam as Young Fabians Chair. All adjudication decisions are final.

 

Scrutineers shall be appointed by the Executive Committee of the Fabian Society and the General Secretary will have final approval of the result.

CONDUCT OF THE ELECTION

 

1. Members are eligible to stand if they were a member on or before 16 May 2020, are fully paid-up on 7 September 2020 and will be under the age of 31 on 21st November 2020. 
2. Members are eligible to vote if they were a member on 16 May 2020 and are under the age of 31 and paid-up on 7 September 2020. Members who clear their arrears during the voting period will be issued with a vote.
3. The deadline for self-nomination is 12 noon Monday 7 September 2020.
4. The Young Fabian Returning Officers as above will adjudicate on eligibility to stand and vote, with the casting vote going to the Chair. All decisions will be final.
5. Notification of the election will be published in the July 2020 Fabian Review and a member email seeking nominations will be sent no later than 7 August 2020.
6. The election will be conducted by electronic ballot. To participate members must have provided a current email address. Members who provide an email address during the voting period will be issued with a vote.
7. The voting period will open on Saturday 19 September 2020 and close at 12 noon Monday 19 October 2020.
8. The election will be promoted in the September Fabian Review mailing, including details of how to access the electronic voting site and candidate statements.
9. Candidates and other members must adhere to the election Code of Practice listed below. Failure to follow the code will lead to a member losing their vote. A serious proven breach will lead to a candidate being excluded from the election.

CODE OF PRACTICE

 

‘NO’… 

 

1. Campaigning before Monday 7 September 2020
2. Campaigning for a specific officer position on the executive committee (eg Chair, Anticipations editor) 
3. Campaigning on behalf of someone else (eg endorsements for a candidate on social media or by email). Replies, shares and ‘likes’ (etc) reacting to a candidate’s social media are permitted in moderation. This requirement applies to candidates and non-candidates, and it includes the candidates’ Youtube campaign video 
4. Communication with anyone about the election after you’ve been asked not to.
5. Excessive repetition of communications (on social media or via email, phone etc).
6. Formal or informal group campaigns or ‘slates’.
7. Inducements and bribes for votes (eg. promises of future positions or explicit project support).
8. Mention of the name of any candidate in official Young Fabian communications or social media (‘purdah’ - see below).
9. Negative campaigning that (directly or indirectly) criticises or denigrates other candidates.
10. Paid advertising or boosted social media.
11. Threats, bullying, harassment or discrimination.
12. Use of any data provided to you by a third party without the recipient’s permission.
13. Use of group chats, social media pages or online forums created for other purposes. Use of unofficial group chats and other channels is permitted in moderation.
14. Use of any Fabian Society membership data (use of this data is not authorised by the society and is therefore unlawful).

 

‘YES’… 

 

1. A 200-word campaign statement supplied to the Young Fabians Returning Officers for publication
2. An up to two minute video provided to the Young Fabians Returning Officers for publication on the Young Fabians YouTube Channel. Other YF members, whether candidates or not, should not appear in the video endorsing the candidate. Creating a video is an optional extra.
3. A single campaign page on a website, social media platform or blog site.
4. Direct personal communication with people you already know using your own data.
5. Positive campaigning about yourself and your involvement with the Fabians.
6. Reasonable use of your own existing social media accounts.
7. Respectful, courteous and professional tone and content at all times.

 

RESTRICTIONS ON EXECUTIVE AND NETWORK OFFICERS (‘PURDAH’)

 

Member emails: All exec members & networks will retain the ability to draft member emails, however, the Chair will have the final ability to send them. Any e-mails sent out will not be in an exec member or YF member’s name. Please note members and exec members may be referenced in the main body of text but emails will be signed off as ‘Young Fabians’. The Chair will have final discretion before sending regarding what is appropriate according to purdah. 

 

Twitter: The Chair and Vice-Chair will have access to the official YF twitter page, with discretion to give permission to another member of the exec who is not re-standing in election. Engagement with members (exec & non-exec) via twitter will continue and twitter users will be retweeted if they engage with the twitter account (through mentions). However, no original tweets from the YF account will contain an exec member or non-exec-members twitter handle. Events that exec members and non-exec members organise and create will be promoted in the usual manner, however without the use of personal twitter handles but with a general text including a link to the event. Access to Network twitters will stay with the network Chairs, which will be monitored by the Chair. If there is a breach of purdah, the Chair will alert the relevant person, and if the breach is serious, the Chair will take over control of the Twitter account. 

 

Facebook: Similarly to twitter, the Chair and exec members not re-standing will retain rights to the YF FB page, events will be promoted as usual without the body of the original text of events being altered. However, in keeping with the above rules, no non-exec member or exec member will be named in the description of the facebook post. All Networks must give admin rights to the Chair. Similarly to the twitter accounts, if purdah is breached, the Chair will become the only admin for the page during the period of purdah. Instagram: similar to twitter and facebook. 

 

YF Website: You all will be able to create and publish events and draft emails (as stated above the Chair will schedule and authorise emails being sent). 

 

Antics/Blog: It will still be possible for the Antics Editor and Blog Editor to publish blog posts. However, when tweeting or referring to the article using any of the official YF social media channels the writer’s name should not be used (instead link directly to the blog post).

 

Youtube Channel: as with Facebook and Twitter, videos of events will be uploaded to the channel, as well as the candidates’ videos, by the Chair or exec members not re-standing.