Controversy reigns after SU elections

In the wake of a number of disputes arising from the recent SU elections including several official complaints and a referral to the election court, there have been fresh calls for wide encompassing reforms to the election process.

The calls have been led by former SU President Shane Brogan who, in an email obtained by The Gown, has called for greater transparency in the election process. Brogan calls for a greater level of investigation into the alleged rule breaking which occurred during the election, including a summary of all complaints received by the Returning Officer, and the action taken in response to each of these, including both formal and informal complaints, as well as a summary of all cases where candidates were found to have broken rules, who these candidates were and any action taken or formal or informal warnings issued.

Brogan also appeals for a breakdown of turnout by School, gender, age bracket, and at hourly intervals during the election days in order to provide a comparison to the turnout in recent years. It would also help identify any irregular voting patterns throughout the course of the election days.

In response to this a union insider said the ideas put forth were not a full constitutional reform, but more a practical reform which is much more widely needed. Brogan’s email should be viewed as an inquiry to provoke debate rather than attack on the system itself. Furthermore councillors may not have known they had the power to request reports/reviews from the sabbatical officers, and hopefully this will improve the democratic process in the union. With councillors more aware of their role, hopefully they should be able to better respond to any issues which arise in the future.

Brogan’s requests follow the decision by current VP Clubs & Societies Niall Bole to challenge the result of his election defeat to Niall McShane by 1823 votes to 1459. Bole has claimed that some candidates have flouted the rules which all candidates must adhere to, and that behaviour such as ‘helping’ people to vote has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many students who are disgusted by how the election campaign had gone.

Bole claims there have been flaws in the system since online voting was introduced now that every computer is a polling station. Although going back to polling booths would certainly drive down turnout, there is a need to "reassess the system" to make it suitable for "the current state of play".

Although he accepts some may accuse him of being a sore loser, Bole hopes that by approaching the election court he can “highlight holes which have been exploited” not just this year but in previous years also. Unless these problems are tackled now, they will simply be swept under the rug for another year.

McShane’s victory over Bole was part of an extremely successful night for the Law/GAA with Jason O’Neill winning President, Aidan Hughes being elected VP Community and Treasa Harkin comfortably taking the position of VP Equality & Diversity. The other victorious candidates were Nuala McAdams for VP Education, and Adam McGibbon and Fiona Kidd who both ran unopposed being returned as VP Welfare and VP Campaigns & Communications respectively.