How do elections work?
Student elections are held at the LSE every October and February. The February elections usually attract a greater turnout because the four full-time sabbatical positions and most of the Executive Committee are elected at this time. All students elected in February serve for the following academic year. In October, by contrast, elected students take office immediately and serve until the end of the academic year.
All students are elected by ‘cross campus ballot’ – this means that all students can vote for all positions. Note that candidates for Postgraduate Officer, General Course President, and Mature and Part Time Students Representative must come form within those groups. Similarly, candidates for the three liberation positions (Womens Officer, LGBT Officer, and the Disabled Students Officer) must self-define within these groups.
All elections use the STV voting system, which means that voters rank candidates in order of preference. Candidates with the fewest first preferences are eliminated and the ballots are redistributed according to the voters’ second preferences. The process is repeated until one candidate (or multiple candidates for committees) have a decisive total of votes.