March 10 saw seven new Sabbatical Officers, and five Liberation Officers appointed, as the Election Results Night literally kicked off with 'Thunder' - setting the tone for the night's conclusion.
Voting opened March 6 and closed three days later, bringing in a total of 3,914 voters and 15,826 votes.
Of the Sabbatical roles, Activities Officer gained the most traction in the polls, with 2,096 votes, whilst Postgraduate Officer gained the least with less than half of these votes (at 1,009).
With solely a 7.5 vote-gap between Re-Open Nominations (RON) [...] and the Presidency winner, the announcement brought deflated cheers and small pools of applause.
To roars of championing claps and cheers, the winners of the Sabbatical roles were: Shah Yaseen Ali for President, Alex Theodosiou for Activities Officer, Gabbi de Boer for Student Media Officer, Lucy Leeds for Welfare and Equality Officer, Kimiko Chen for Athletic Union Officer, Chirag Kumar for Postgraduate Officer, and Lulu Chen for Education Officer.
The chosen Liberation Officers were: Tom Wilson as LGBTQ+ Officer, Charlotte Pickles as Marginalised Genders Officer, James Hall as Faith and Belief Officer, Albina Zhelezova as International Student's Officer, and Leo David as Disability Officer.
But as the night closed, controversy opened as the Presidency was clinched by Shah Yaseen Ali out of 1,909 votes due to his success in the second round of voting in this Single Transferable Voting (STV) system.
With solely a 7.5 vote-gap between Re-Open Nominations (RON) — which also attained the most first place votes — and the Presidency winner, the announcement brought deflated cheers and small pools of applause.
Since Friday 3, a contentious atmosphere has enveloped the role of President as the debates witnessed insensitive comments regarding sexual harassment and spiking.
"Ending spiking, ending sexual harassment [...] it's not going to happen" Presidential candidate Abjol Miah said during The Debates hosted by NUSU's Student Media Groups. To his left, Ranjnish Lochab followed up with a laugh, stating that "if you can understand and control your emotions" you can avoid these situations. These harmful remarks incited the creation of social media platforms that aimed to rocket the RON vote to the top of the polls.
An Instagram account was created in support of the RON vote on Monday evening. This account generated 277 followers in less than 3 days, which was trumped the followers and engagement that any of the Presidential candidates saw. The anonymous account focused heavily on the fact that the Presidential candidates failed to acknowledge the significant impact that sexual violence has on the student community.
The account believed that no Presidential candidate was fit for the role, and encouraged voters to rank RON as their first and only choice in the ballot. The account led to 793 voters selecting RON as their first place choice. Despite the indication that most students preferred none of the candidates standing for the role, the STV system used by NUSU meant that Shah Yaseen Ali was victorious for the position.
The new President, and current student trustee of the Students' Union, confirmed his support for anti-spiking devices in Luthers, and the 'It Happens Here' recommendation (that current President Mady Baugh spearheaded) during the debates, as he believed he is "completely committed to adopting and implementing [... this] recommendation".
"I look forward to start representing the students, and building on Mady's work. We need to continue to hold the university to account", Ali said in his interview with The Courier after his confirmation as NUSU's next President.
"People have the right to exercise their democratic vote", Ali stated in light of the dissent and drama surrounding the candidacy for Presidency.
Certain roles still went unfilled, such as the BAME Officer, Chair of Scrutiny and Chair of Council.
Successful candidates will now undertake the transitionary period of learning, and begin their roles in June 2023.