2,750 students voted in class representative (rep) elections that took place last week across campus.
Daniel Walsh, Chair of the Electoral Commission, stated via email that over 700 students signed up to run as a class rep. Voting took place in The Arts Block, The Hamilton, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI), the School of Nursing & Midwifery on D’Olier Street, and St. James’ and Tallaght Hospital campus.
When asked about the voter turnout per location, Walsh told The University Times “The Arts Block saw the highest level of turnout, with just over 1100 votes (1104) being cast there. It’s worth noting that the Arts Block polling station had ballots for all cohorts, so that likely contributed to the higher turnout there. The Hamilton polling station received 837 votes. TBSI and D’Olier Street received 131 votes between them. St James’ Hospital Received 28 votes, while Tallaght Hospital received 50.”
Of the votes counted, 612 votes were cast online.
According to the Chair of the Electoral Commission, eight students were involved in the sorting and counting of ballots, in conjunction with Trinity College Dublin Student Union’s (TCDSU) Sabbatical Officers.
Last Wednesday, in-person voting for class reps was postponed, with TCDSU commenting on Instagram that they were “forced” to do so as “labour and facilities required to facilitate these elections were pushed beyond its limits”. In the same statement, the Union promised that a report to the TCDSU Council will be made to avoid the postponement of voting in the future.
