The election may be annulled
A mix-up during the nomination process ahead of the Student Parliament election may lead to the election being declared invalid. At worst, this may lead to a new election.
On Sunday the 20th of April, it was decided by the Student Parliament’s Election Committee that the Left Radical Alliance’s (VA) Thomas Tallaksen, who was standing for re-election in this year’s Student Parliament election, would not be permitted to stand for election after all. The reason: He was neither registered for the semester nor on leave of absence from his studies, as the election regulations demands. Tallaksen has for the past year been Student Representative on the University Board, and has now decided to appeal the Election Committee’s decision.
In any case, Tallaksen will at best get substitute status in the parliament. At worst, the election will be declared invalid, and a possible new election will be held in the autumn. Tallaksen emphasizes however that it is not his intention to overturn the election.
– I wish to set an example regarding regulations that I find to be insufficient, he says.
He considers it a given that members of the Student Parliament’s Working Committee (SP-AU) should be able to stand for re-election in the Student Parliament, irrespective of their student status.
– These demands should not apply to those who have spent all of the preceding period in a full-time position in student politics. The Election Committee should follow the intention of the election regulations, which is to keep participants from outside the university from entering student politics, rather than follow the exact wording of this decision, Tallaksen says.
Thomas André Syvertsen, member of the Election Committee, says that the majority saw no reason to go against the regulations, and states that they did not know which member of SP-AU was involved when the vote took place.
– The task of the Election Committee is to follow the rules, not break them. In the past we have followed regulations very strictly when it came to letting people into student politics, and we think that it would be irresponsible to make exceptions simply because the person involved is a member of the Working Committee, he says.
Signhild Stave Samuelsen, election manager in SP-AU, says that registration mistakes are usually discovered by double checking student status via the candidate’s user name. This year, the situation has been different.
– We discovered this just three days before the election, since not enough people had followed instructions to include user names or social security numbers when they handed in the fraction lists. After many reminders that they had to give us more comprehensive information, it was too late to correct any mistakes, she says.
– Samuelsen chooses not to over-dramatize the situation regarding a new election.
– I see the chances of a new election being minimal, but I cannot eliminate the possibility, she says.
Harald Baldersheim, Leader of the Central Election Committee, does not want to comment on the likelihood of a new Student Parliament Election this year either.
– When we receive the complaint, we will consider the case in accordance with normal practice, and confer with legal experts before making a final decision, he says.
The final decision will be made by the University’s Central Election Committee, which has a processing period of three months.
