The result for vice-president for activities in this year’s SU elections will be announced on Monday, March 28th after complaints of alleged misconduct about Andreas Zacharia, who currently holds the position, were rejected.
Zacharia allegedly faced disqualification from the contest on Monday, March 21st (the day of the results) however, this and his subsequent appeal, have not been publicly announced.
The complaint surrounded the official SU Facebook page for Zacharia’s current role, “Ulsu Activitiez”, which promoted his re-election campaign by inviting people to an event titled “FRESH – ANDREAS – VOTE!!!” despite rules banning the use of SU resources by candidates (or their campaign teams).
The rule is in place to ensure an equal playing field between candidates so that they cannot abuse their position or give the appearance of someone having union-backing.
The Linc originally alerted the SU about his activity on Friday, March 18th, however, it was not until a formal complaint from another party on the following Monday that significant action was taken.
The count for the role was suspended hours before results were due, but no explanation was given about the information surrounding the complaint.
The complaint was eventually rejected on Thursday, March 24th believed to be on a technicality.
A presentation given to candidates stated: “Do not use Union resources to promote your own campaign” but a mistake meant that this phrase does not appear in the full regulations and so could not be found.
However, regulation 8(v) restricts the use of unauthorised publicity materials which are “detailed in the information pack and at the candidate’s briefing” so the use of union materials can still be in breach of the rules.
Any final decisions are supposed to be made public according to the regulations, which state: “All rulings made by the Returning Officer shall be posted on the elections noticeboard and website.”
The returning officer for the election has not responded to a request to comment from The Linc.