MOTION: Voters in referenda should be able to vote abstain.

This Union Notes a) In votes at general meetings and at Union Council, voters may vote abstain. b)The Big Red Book (BRB) 23.3 describes situations in which NUS delegates should abstain in NUS conferences. c) When the Union had paper voting in referenda, voters had three options: to vote Yes, No or to spoil their ballot paper. 10.5% of ballot papers in the 2003 Nestle referendum were spoilt. Spoilt ballot papers would count towards achieving quorum. d) Voters in electronic referenda, such as the Big Ask (February 2012) are unable to spoil their ballot paper. e) A referendum question is often run simultaneously to another referendum question (such as in the Big Ask), or other elections. f) When a referendum question simultaneously to another referendum or other elections there are members who vote yes/no at random and members who make an uninformed yes/no vote on a referendum question on the basis that it is the same decision that they made on another referendum question. g) The BRB (3.1 b) only states that the resolution to a referenda question must be yes or no. The BRB is silent on the voting options available to members at referenda. h) No campaign publicity can be produced in a referendum to encourage members to boycott it, spoil ballot papers or vote to abstain (see BRB 3.9c) i) Some Student Unions at other Russel Group Universities which regularly run referenda (such as Leeds and Sheffield) allow members to vote abstain in referenda. i) In a referendum there will be members who do not have a strong or informed opinion on the question but would like quorum to be reached so that the decision of the majority will be binding. This Union Believes Allowing members to vote abstain in referendum would enable TUN j) Allowing members to vote abstain in referenda would give a truer reflection of members opinions on referenda questions. Particularly in the situation described in TUN e) , by reducing the effects stated in TUN f) This Union Resolves To add

3.5 (VOTING) g Members shall be able to vote yes, no or abstain.