Whyte Takes Presidency For Another Term
Last Updated on Friday, 05 March 2010 16:31 Written by Alan Robertson Friday, 05 March 2010 15:37
FOLLOWING on from an election plagued by technical problems and accusations between candidates, former President of the University of Strathclyde Student’s Association Philip Whyte has been re-elected with a majority of over 400 votes.
Whyte saw off the challenge of Bryan Simpson, picking up 979 votes compared to the Reclaim Our Education runner’s 527.
Student apathy was the big winner, however, with only 1600 students turning out to vote.
The union elections were engulfed in chaos earlier this week when technical difficulties left online polls closed for thirteen hours.
Fears that the shut down would damage student participation appear to have been confirmed as voter turnout fell by almost 50 per cent compared to last year.
This is the first year that any sabbatical has been re-elected at Strathclyde, and Whyte was one of six executive members to win a place on the USSA team for a second year running, though not without a tense run-in.
“I don’t think anyone would deny it’s been an extremely tough 48 hours for everyone involved in the election process, both staff and students,” he said.
“But we got there in the end and I’m absolutely delighted to serve the students of Strathclyde for one more year. It’s business as usual, more of the same and we can only get better hopefully”.
Bryan Simpson told the Telegraph, "I think the fact that the election process was so fraught with irregularities mean that it wasn't very democratic at all. The server crashing disenfranchised perhaps thousands of students which can be seen by the fact that it was the lowest turnout in 3 years. I would advocate a complete overhaul of the way students at Strathclyde vote. The only point of an internet system is that it runs smoother and more efficiently. As this can no longer be guaranteed I think we need to introduce a paper ballot system counted independently".
Yousuf Kerr will join Whyte on next year’s executive team as Vice President Sports, Physical Activity & Wellbeing after securing the slimmest of margins over Robbie Carter – 669 votes compared to Carter’s 635.
Competition for Vice President Education & Representation proved to be a close contest also, with Graeme Allan coming out on top despite receiving fewer first-preference votes than Reclaim Our Education candidate Sarah Collins.
Under the Single Transferable Vote system, the votes of those candidates with the fewest number are redistributed between others until one achieves the necessary quota. Collins, despite having a majority of 69 in the first instance, failed to reach the 643 required and suffered as Allan picked up more votes as the rounds progressed.
“Obviously more people voted for myself but the way the system works it makes it easier for students to get together to vote against a certain candidate,” said Collins, who is also a member of Strathclyde Anti-Cuts Network.
Charandeep Singh told The Telegraph he was “humbled” to have been chosen as Vice President Equality and Diversity, collecting 200 more votes than the opposing Nikky Ward.
“By being a visible presence, I will work for the students, with the students to fight discrimination and promote diversity to make our campus the envy of the universities of this country," Singh added.
Elswehere, Gill Currah and Iain Pullar were elected Vice President Activities & Development and Vice Presidential Services respectively after running unopposed in this year’s poll.
