Record votes counted in De Montfort University student elections

By Liam Harris

With the De Montfort University Elections coming to an end once more, it has been a record breaking year for student participation, according to De Monfort’s Student Voice Coordinator, Alex Scown.

Mr Scown said that engagement is in a ‘good spot’ compared to previous years, with 3,133 individual votes in and a total of over 23,465 votes, a record high.

“The elections are held every year around the second term,” he said. “Tomorrow (March 16^th) between 6-8pm, the results will be announced live on Instagram and Twitter.”

He added: “The elections bring a lot of opportunities for students with their own goals and beliefs. It is for those that see problems and gives them the opportunity to address them.

“Every candidate has their own manifesto, ideas and objectives. They will put them forward and try to convince the voters that they are worth addressing and they are capable of doing so.”

Mr Scown also spoke on the voting process and how a DMU student can vote, as well as how one could run for a position.

“Every DMU student is automatically enrolled as a member of DSU,” he explained. “As long as you are a member of DSU, have a student ID and a student account, you can vote.

“You can vote at the polling stations or on the DSU website. Any interested candidate can put themselves forward on the website, then upload a photo and a manifesto. This year, nominations were open from January 17 to February 14, so just over two weeks.

“Anyone can run, even first years. We care more about passion and how involved you want to be, in comparison to experience. Any students (including PhD, and Postgraduates) can apply.”

He said there were five Executive Officer positions included in the elections, each representing a specific zone from Academic, Equality and Diversity, Welfare, Opportunity and Open zone.  

There were also seven Liberation Officer roles available. Each Liberation Officer represents an underrepresented group such as LGBTQ+, Women, BAME and Disabled groups. 

Following the recent elections, the winners were as follows: 

NUS Reps: Amir Iqbal, Chidera Echedom, Charu Somani, Hamida Arif, Aliya Amin Khan 

Opportunities and Engagement Exec: Aashni Sawjani 

Welfare Exec: Aliya Amin Khan 

Equality and Diversity Exec: Meera Dasani 

Academic Exec: Nyashadzashe Nguwo 

Union Dev Exec: Amir Iqbal 

Some notable upcoming dates include: 

Course Rep Elections: 28^th March – 19^th April (Nomination Period), 22^nd April – 2^nd May Voting Period. Results on 6^th May. Zone Elections 11^th May – 25^th May 30^th May – 13^th June. Results on the 17^th June.