Thursday 08-03-2018 - 11:24

We have been made aware that Blessings Mambwe, standing for President in the 2018 election, has been offering free access to Netflix in exchange for votes. The candidate suggested that if you voted for him you could redeem a free Netflix trial by sending him a screen shot of your online ballot.

The Union would like to make clear that we do not support this campaigning tactic as it breaches both the election rules and guidelines. Being asked to make your ballot public is inappropriate. This proposed scheme is also in breach of Netflix’s terms of use.

We want to assure you that we will run a free and fair Student Officer election and that we believe in your right to vote in a secret ballot free from inducement.

This issue was brought to our attention via complaint from another candidate. After investigation, we have decided to impose a campaigning ban from 18:30 on Wednesday 7 to 09:00 Saturday 10 March. This means that Blessings cannot post on social media, canvass students or talk about his election campaign on these dates. If he does, he will be disqualified from this year’s election.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Deputy Returning Officer c.kennedy@mmu.ac.uk