Hi, thank you for your query. 

The main reason for this currently is that there is no way for the Union to facilitate absentee voting, and so no way to verify the legitimacy of absentee votes. The system that is used for Union elections is not suitable for this as there is not the capacity for the 310 clubs and societies that are currently affiliated, along with the huge amount of staff time that this would necessitate. The move towards ensuring all society members are properly registered on the Union website means that there potentially is scope to moving towards being able to facilitate this in the future, however there would still need to be additional resources put into the website to enable this, and unfortunately this is not available at this time. 

Additionally there are benefits to in-person voting at an AGM, for example the opportuity for members to ask questions of candidates and further inform their vote, which would not be possible with remote voting. It is also important to note that the AGM is not solely for the election of committee, but also an important opportunity to reflect on the year and also the presentation of the society finances, and so attendance should be highly encouraged. 

If you have any additional questions, please get in touch with democracy@susu.org who will be able to provide more information.

Many thanks, 

Evie Reilly (VP DCI)