Lynne Alexandrova elected UTGSU president with 5.7 per cent voter turnout

The University of Toronto Graduate Student’s Union (UTGSU) released the unofficial election results for the 2023-2024 academic year on April 22, 2023. Lynne Alexandrova won the majority of votes for UTGSU president. Students also passed a referendum increasing the levy for Bikechain, a non-profit bike repair and rental shop. To become official, the UTGSU Board of Directors (BOD), which will hold their last meeting of the term on April 27, must ratify the results. 

Out of over 20,000 eligible voters, 1,137 ballots were cast, making the voter turnout 5.7 per cent. In an email, UTGSU Chief Returning Officer Justin Patrick noted that, although turnout was low, it remains the highest since 2018 and possibly the highest in at least ten years. The position of vice-president academics for divisions 1 & 2, representing the humanities and social sciences, remains unfilled, as there were no candidates nominated for the role. The candidates for UTGSU president and vice-president internal ran uncontested. 

Elected Positions

In addition to electing Alexandrova as UTGSU president, students voted to elect Neelofar Ahmed as vice-president external, Zoya Tawhidi as vice-president finance, Aanshi Gandhi as vice-president internal, and Mohammadamir Ghasemian Moghaddam as vice-president academics for divisions 3 & 4, which encompass the divisions for physical and life sciences.

Voters also chose several members of the UTGSU Board of Directors (BOD) for division 4, including Rohankrishna Harikumar, Jady Liang, Vida Maksimoska and Chris Rodgers. Friedemann Krannich also received a majority of votes for director of division 3. There were no candidates nominated for BOD positions from divisions 1 or 2. 

2023-24 will be the second year the UTGSU will operate with the restructured executive committee and BOD, after the union passed bylaw changes outlining this structure at the 2021 annual general meeting. 

Referendum

Students passed a referendum asking graduate students whether they would support an increase in the Bikechain levy to meet the increased cost of living. The levy fee will increase from from $0.60 to $1.50 per year for full-time graduate students and from $0.30 to $0.75 for part-time graduate students beginning in the fall of 2023.