The U of T Students’ Union held their by-elections from October 15 to 17, with former vice-president campus life Onik Khan running as the sole candidate for vice-president external, a post that has been vacant since mid-July. He won with 1,088 voting yes and 268 voting no.
There were also several board of directors positions open. The candidates for directors for the transitional year program, the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, and the Faculty of Dentistry were acclaimed. Pierre Harfouche and Sanchit Mathur won the two seats available for the faculty of engineering.
“Sweet! Looks like I have a seat at the UTSU board of directors,” wrote Harfouche on his Facebook page. “I will now move to advocate to get rid of it.” The motions he submitted to UTSU’s upcoming AGM were rejected.
This was the first election for which UTSU implemented online voting after the board of directors approved the recommendations of the Elections and Referenda Committee in September.
The UTMSU also held their by-elections from October 15 to 17. There were 10 candidates for the elections for Division 1. According to Abdul Rehman Kamali, the chief returning officer, this year’s elections had almost twice the voter turnout of last year’s; the total number of ballots cast was 602, compared to last year’s 311. The candidates with the most votes were Nirmal Patel, who attained 210 votes, and Naveed Ahmad, who received 163.
Two applications were received for Division 4, according to Kamali, but neither of them qualified. One applicant failed to show up to the mandatory all-candidates meeting and the other failed to secure 10 required part-time nominators for the validation of his nomination form.
