After no candidates ran in the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) Spring Election for a large number of executive and director positions, Ameera Karim, Arjun Kaul, Dermot Gordon O’Halloran, and Michael Junior Samakayi have won the positions of Vice-Presidents Student Life, Operations, Professional Faculties, and Equity, respectively.
The VP Equity race was uncontested in the initial election but delayed due to outstanding appeals to the Elections and Referenda Committee.
The by-election saw 1,071 voters, a turnout of 2.9 per cent — 531 fewer voters than the 4.2 per cent turnout of the Spring Election.
Karim won the most contested executive race, garnering 344 votes and beating out runner-up Spencer Robertson by 94 votes. There were 410 abstentions, accounting for 38.3 per cent of votes cast in this race.
Kaul ran uncontested and received a yes vote from 89.2 per cent of participating students, with 377 students abstaining and 75 voting no.
O’Halloran’s competition, Muskan Sethi, withdrew from the race midway. Therefore, O’Halloran was elected Vice-President Professional Faculties with 130 votes. There were 120 abstentions in this race, totalling 46.5 per cent of votes.
Samakayi won by the largest margin of the contested executive elections — 376 votes were cast in his favour over the 164 votes cast for runner-up Hanya Wahdan. There were 531 abstentions, equalling to 49.6 per cent of the vote.
The UTSU Board of Directors also saw 16 positions filled, still leaving two seats unfilled.
