Elections

We are proud to be the collective voice of our multi-professional members.

We take our members’ voices with us to educate policy makers and the public about the entire team providing critical care.

We value diversity and everything that makes a person unique, and we recognise the power our differences bring to our collective voice and influence.

We function thanks to the contributions of members who seek election as representatives in our Council, Committees and Professional Advisory Groups. Thank you for making the commitment to help represent your colleagues.

How we conduct our elections

The Intensive Care Society uses a nomination form for the first stage, and the online system CIVICA for the voting stage.

How to nominate yourself as a candidate

  1. To nominate yourself in an upcoming election, please download and complete the relevant nomination form
  2. Ensure your details and that of your nominee and seconder are complete
  3. Select what group you are standing for
  4. Provide your nomination statement within the word count
  5. Declare any conflict of interest
  6. Confirm and send the nomination form to the Society by the deadline

How to vote

  1. All members will receive a dedicated voting email with a unique link to the voting site 
  2. Each link will take you to the log in page and automatically populate the security codes
  3. Choose the election you want to vote in 
  4. Read the statements attached to each nominee
  5. Drag and drop the nominees in the adjacent box in order of your preference
  6. Click submit and close

Results

All results are collated and verified by CIVICA and handed across to the Society.

Successful nominees will receive an email welcoming them to the Society and notifying them of next steps including when the results will be published.

The results will be published on our website, social media and announced at our Annual General Meeting.

How votes are counted

Votes are counted using a Single Transferable Vote system designed to attain its objectives with economy, efficiency and certainty. It ensures that as far as possible every vote has a positive part in helping to elect a candidate, that no voting power is wasted and that no voter has a greater influence on the result than any other. 

This is achieved by giving each elector ONE vote, irrespective of the number of vacancies to be filled, and making that vote transferable. Voting papers are completed by placing the candidates into a preferred order using the figure ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, etc. The figure ‘1’ represents the vote and is mandatory. The rest are contingency markings and optional but important as they can influence the final result. For that reason the elector is recommended to express preferences until he/she is unable to differentiate between any remaining candidates. 

When votes are counted, the Returning Officer works to a Quota. This is the number of votes a candidate requires to be certain of election and is calculated to a simple arithmetical formula. 
Any candidate elected with more votes than needed (i.e. above the quota) has surplus votes transferred to the remaining candidates – again using a set formula. Votes of any candidates excluded from the count through insufficient support are also transferred. In both cases the contingency markings come into play, and thereby avoids votes being wasted as would be the case in the first-past-the-post election. 

It is important to remember that under no circumstances can a later preference count against an earlier preference and that failure to record preferences can limit the elector’s influence on the election result. 

An explanatory leaflet giving additional details about STV is available on request from Civica Election Services.

Eligibility

Please see our regulations for more information about eligibility to vote.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the election process, eligibility or timings, please contact: CommunicationsTeam@ics.ac.uk