Quorum barely reached in officer election

Current Students’ Union Education Officer Sean Ruston was re-elected last week despite worries that the quorum would not be reached for an Officer to be elected at all.

Education Officer elections were postponed after Ruston was hospitalised during campaign week in Week 5 due to appendicitis. Candidates Sean Ruston and Daren Maynard competed for the position, resulting in Ruston’s landslide victory of 1,434 votes to Maynard’s 791.

There were major fears that the 2,264 minimum vote quorum would not be reached, which would have resulted in elections being re-opened. To combat this; polling machines were set up in the Atrium, a pop-up was added to the Students’ Union website, Sabbatical Officers toured campus kitchens with paper ballots, and even S.p.Ank the Top Banana monkey was brought in to raise awareness of elections and encourage students to vote.

Ultimately, the quorum was reached within the last hour before voting closed, with 2,325 votes cast altogether, making it by only 61 votes.

Ruston’s re-election makes him the fourth Officer to be re-elected. This year is the first that Sabbs have re-run for their positions and will make up four out of seven of next years’ team. Ruston joins Democracy Officer-elect Chris Luck, Welfare Officer and President-elect Leo Bøe, and Sports Officer George Whitworth who will be taking up the position of Union Development Officer.

“It is the standard practice at [other] Unions, and I generally think it’s a positive thing as people can run on their record, which obviously gives people an incentive to work harder,” said Ruston. “All [the re-elected Sabbs] are passionate about student representation… I’m fully convinced that they will do a fantastic job next year. I’m looking forward to working [as a] part of their team.”

Ruston paid tribute to Maynard’s passion and energy, and Democracy and Communications Officer Chris Luck: “Every day he pulled out all the stops to get quorum, he’s doing a fantastic job”.

When asked about his plans for next year, he said: “We have to keep up the pressure because, fundamentally, [the University] doesn’t realise what has to change. They don’t realise that things have to improve.” He emphasised the importance of students over research and academics: “There has to be a massive shift in emphasis, and I’m going to work day after day to make sure that happens.”

Maynard commented, “I feel very happy… we made quorum. I’m very happy that Sean won… he’s got charisma. That’s what we need.”

First-year Computer Science student Geoff Williams spoke to the Boar about the lack of enthusiasm students showed towards voting: “I think that most students are sceptical of how much of a difference [the Sabbs] can make to their lives”.

When asked how he felt about about four Sabbs being re-elected, he said: “I guess one of the main criteria that people base their vote on is experience. While people are happy with their time at the University, they won’t feel a desperate need to change those in office.”