The Electoral Commission (EC) this morning gave education candidate Bev Genockey a minor strike, banning her from campaigning for 30 minutes.
In an email statement to The University Times, Chair of the EC Yannick Gloster said that the “strike is due to a member of the campaign team tweeting a University Times article regarding a motion at TCDSU council while also referencing the candidate’s campaign and tagging the campaign page”.
“The campaign ‘area’, as written in Schedule 3 – 2.8.b, was determined by the EC to be the candidates’ official online social media pages, prior to the election”, he added.
In a statement to The University Times, Genockey said: “The strike from the EC was in regards to a post by a well-intentioned, enthusiastic first year student about a motion we brought to council together, which tagged the campaign page. It was an honest mistake and misinterpretation of the rules, so there is no real harm done.”
“But, the action was in breach of Schedule 3 and we respect the EC’s decision to issue the strike, and the temporary ban on campaigning. However, I would like to take this opportunity to commend my campaign team for their tireless efforts so far, and we look forward to reaching even more students over the next few days.”
Genockey’s opponent in the race, Daniel O’Reilly received a minor strike on Thursday after his campaign Instagram page followed a student 13 minutes after the end of the campaign period.
Schedule three, which lays out the rules of the election, states: “If a candidate receives more than 3 minor strikes they will be struck off the ballot.”
“Similarly, if a candidate receives two major strikes a decision will be made at the discretion of the EC as to whether they will remain on the ballot.”
Candidates have already faced four out of the five hustings as we enter the second week of the campaign.
The education race appears tight, with both candidates well briefed on the issues and performing well at the debates.
The final hustings – organised by the JCR – will take place on Tuesday at 6pm, the same day that voting starts.
Voting will end on Thursday, and the winners will be announced that evening.
This has proven to be an unusual Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union election campaign, as candidates grapple with the shift to online campaigning.
Matt McCann also contributed reporting to this piece.
