Data services

Description

Provision of electoral services including design, printing and administration of ballot papers and postal votes and related IT systems. Universities and Colleges currently run elections for a number of purposes within their institutions. These include the appointments of representatives from different constituencies of staff, students and alumni to positions on Governing Bodies (Courts) and Senates (the Academic Governing Body). Elections are also run by Students’ Associations, which may range from the appointment of class presidents through to Student Association office holders. The Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016 introduced new requirements for the composition of Courts and Senates which placed an emphasis on the election of representatives. All Institutions must fully comply with the Act by December 2020, and measures include the requirement for more than 50 per cent of members of University Senates to be elected, as well as the election of the senior lay member (in effect the Chair of Court) by all students and staff of the institution. The number and frequency of elections is, therefore, likely to increase in the coming years. Constituencies will range from several dozen to several thousand in number.