Union elections close, with some positions unfilled
A number of positions have no candidates running for them, including the LGBT+ Officer.
Imperial College Union last week closed voting in their Summer Elections.
Students had the opportunity to vote in the third set of Union elections this academic year from noon, Tuesday 29th May – a significantly shorter voting timeframe than the last set of elections, which saw voting open for nearly an entire week. As of the time of writing, turnout is around 5.5% In total, 113 roles are up for election through the Union’s website; the majority of these roles are Club, Society, or Project (CSP) roles that were unfilled during the last election cycle.
Students will need to be a member of that particular CSP before they are able to vote for the roles. Alongside this, a number of Constituent Union (CU), Wellbeing Representation Network (WBRN), and Academic Representation Network (ARN) roles also have people running.
However, there are several notable positions that will be left unfilled for the second election cycle in a row: this election marks the second time no candidates have put themselves forward for the Union’s LGBT+ Officer, one of the eight Liberation Officers, who “works to stop any discrimination against the LGBT+ community at Imperial”.
Alessio Incitti, the current LGBT+ Officer, told Felix: “Even though this time the position was promoted individually on the Union’s social media, and I was contacted by some potential candidates, sadly no-one ended up running.”
He said the fact the LGBT+ Officer was the only position left unfilled “means that there is a problem with the engagement of the LGBT+ community, and I hope it won’t be ignored by next year’s Officer Trustees. Personally, I would encourage LGBT+ students to take the leap and run for leadership positions like this one. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences during my time at Imperial.”
A significant proportion of candidates are running uncontested: in total, only around 40% of the roles will be contested between more than one candidate, while nearly one third of submitted candidates failed to provide a manifesto on the voting website.
The last election cycle took place in March, and saw the election of a number of high-ranking roles, including sabbatical officers.
