The 2023 SU General Election comes to a close: Who are the winners?
By Sophia Lopez, Julieanne Acosta, Eula Mengullo, March 9 2023—
Candidates and students were present for the Students’ Union (SU) general election results that were announced today in the South Courtyard of Mac Hall.
Students enrolled in the Winter 2023 semester had from March 7-9 at 4 p.m. to vote or abstain for the executive positions and faculty representatives, along with answering the plebiscite question. Students were also given the option to vote “yes” or “no” for uncontested candidates. In total, 3,865 students voted in the general election which was over a 5 per cent increase from last year. Out of the possible students that could vote, only 13.6 per cent did vote.
This year, the president, the vice-president external and the vice-president student life positions races were the only contested executive roles. As for faculty representatives and student-at-larges, the only contested positions were the Faculty of Science representatives, the Faculty of Kinesiology representative, and the Board of Governors student-at-large.
Successful candidates provided a statement to the Gauntlet on their win and what they’re excited to accomplish for students in their upcoming term.
Shaziah Jinnah Morsette will serve as the SU president with 63.9 per cent of the vote.
“All I have to say is I am so grateful to get to support students for another year,” said Morsette. “To keep fighting for them and keep doing what I’m meant to do because I know I can make a difference for students. I am going to spend every single minute I have in this office doing just that.”
Uncontested candidate Sandra Amin will serve as the next vice-president academic with 89.5 per cent of the vote.
Mateusz Salmassi will serve as the next vice-president external with 53 per cent of the vote.
“I feel ecstatic and ready to mobilize during the provincial election so that we can demand from the government what students deserve and demand a full reversal of the budget cuts,” said Salmassi.
After an 86 per cent yes vote, Arlington Antonio Santiago will serve as the next vice-president operations and finance.
With 66.3 per cent of the vote, Ermia Rezaei-Afsah will serve as the next vice-president student life.
“I wanna thank everyone that helped me,” said Rezaei-Afsah. “I also wanted to thank the students that voted for change. I’m gonna fight for students, for direct action, I will establish a meal program, I will fight against tuition, I will help make life better on this campus.”
Ben Shi, Erica Peng, and Eyerusalem Tadese will serve as the next three Faculty of Science representatives, with Shi getting the most votes at 30.6 per cent.
Jessie Dinh will serve as the next Faculty of Kinesiology representative with 68.7 per cent of the vote.
With 51.3 per cent of the vote, Taimur Akhtar will serve as the next Board of Governors student-at-large.
All uncontested faculty representative candidates were elected into their respective offices with a majority “yes” vote.
Safaa Al-Khaz’Aly will serve as the next Faculty of Law representative with 82.2 per cent of the vote.
Jessica Klassen will serve as the next Faculty of Social Work representative with 97.6 per cent of the vote.
Winning 93.4 per cent of the vote, Elsa Stokes will serve as the next Werklund School of Education representative.
Muntaha Aamir and Siraaj Shah will serve as the next Faculty of Arts representatives with 43.4 per cent and 43.8 per cent of the vote respectively.
The Cumming School of Medicine representative position will be served by Angelica Uy and Chaten Jessel with 44.6 per cent and 40.9 per cent of the vote respectively.
With 38.7 per cent and 39.5 per cent of the vote respectively, Hari Singh and MD Asif Khan will serve as the next Haskayne Business representatives.
Ahbari Limbu and Fardeen Islam will serve as the next Schulich School of Engineering representatives with 34.8 per cent and 44.4 per cent of the vote respectively.
The Senate representative positions will be served by Aly Samji and Reanna Tazreean, with 42.6 per cent and 42.8 per cent of the vote respectively.
Four offices remain vacant at this time — two Faculty of Arts representatives, one Schulich School of Engineering representative, the Faculty of Nursing representative, and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine representative. Those hired into the positions will serve until the October by-elections.
In this general election, a plebiscite question was asked to students regarding the mandatory athletics fee in their tuition. The point of the plebiscite question is to help the SU better understand how to advocate for students. The majority of students voted to be able to opt out of the fee completely at 33.7 per cent.
These results become official on March 17 and elected officials will begin their term in May. The full list of executives, representatives and student-at-larges in the 81st Student Legislative Council can be found on the SU’s website.