Shane De Rís and Matt Dundon have both been fined for breaching the rules of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) elections.
In meetings this afternoon, the Electoral Commission decided to fine De Rís because a member of his campaign team posted in a group chat about his campaign. Ten t-shirts will be withheld from De Rís for campaigning tomorrow and he will not be allowed to have any active social media presence between 12pm and 3pm tomorrow.
In an email to The University Times, De Rís said that “it was an innocent mistake, the rules of SU campaigns are quite heavy and not always easy for those who don’t usually engage with the SU to follow”.
De Rís is one of four candidates running for the position of President of TCDSU. Dundon is one of two candidates running for the role of entertainments officer. Speaking to The University Times, Dundon said that he was fined because “one of the first years in my team accidentally put up posters in buildings where he wasn’t meant to”. The Electoral Commission decided that Dundon will not be allowed to campaign on campus between 2pm and 3pm tomorrow, effectively extending his lunch break by an hour.
The rules for candidates and their campaigns are set out in schedule three of TCDSU’s constitution. Where a candidate breaches one of those rules the Electoral Commission will decide whether to issue a strike. Under these rules three minor rule breaches or two major rule breaks will result in the candidate being struck from the ballot.
