Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has allowed for a re-open nominations vote in the class representative elections in one uncontested race, following a student request.
A student from the Engineering, Maths and Science Faculty formally requested that the class be able to vote to re-open nominations instead of the automatic election of the sole candidate running for the position.
For uncontested elections of class representatives, the candidate who runs is usually automatically elected and no ballot papers are available for that class. Ballot papers will be printed for this previously uncontested race and will be available to students tomorrow, the last day of voting.
This re-open nominations option will not apply to any other uncontested class representative elections.
In an email statement to The University Times, TCDSU Education Officer Aimee Connolly said that it “has not been the policy of TCDSU to print a RON option on Class Rep election ballots in the past”.
“TCDSU will be undertaking a constitutional review this academic year and this issue will be highlighted within this”, Connolly said.
Class representative elections have taken place this week, with voting every day in the Arts Block and Hamilton, and voting open in off-campus locations on specific days. The counting of the votes will take place tomorrow evening from 5pm.
A plebiscite, aimed at determining student opinion on smoke-free zones on campus, is also being held this week. The result of the vote will not be binding but will be used to inform TCDSU policy. After failing to reach consensus on the issue at council, TCDSU last year voted to remove any stance it had on Tobacco Free Trinity.
Representatives are elected by their classmates to represent them at TCDSU’s council, which meets six times a year and votes on policy matters. Once elected, representatives are invited to go to a weekend training event, where they receive workshops on campaigning, welfare and dealing with departments. Class representatives also usually sit on school and course committees as student representatives.
The number of representatives in a class is determined by the number of students in it and so larger classes can see several people elected and attending TCDSU’s council.
