Council of State: UvA Student Council elections should be extended
The Student Council elections should be extended by two days. That is the verdict of the highest administrative court, the Council of State, Wednesday afternoon. This means that the preliminary results of the elections will not be announced on Wednesday as planned.
The case had been brought by the Free Student, the Central Student Council, and a UvA student and was heard Wednesday in The Hague. The Student Council elections officially took place at the UvA between May 13th and 17th.
But exactly that week, the UvA was also the scene of pro-Palestine demonstrations and occupations. As a result, the university was forced to keep its doors closed for two days. The loss of two full days was detrimental to the elections, the Free Student, the Central Student Council (CSR) and one UvA student felt. They believed that students did not have sufficient opportunity to cast their digital votes.
The Central Electoral Board (CSB) announced Friday afternoon that it did not agree with the extension. Indeed, there was no reason to deviate from the “main rule,” which stipulates that the preconditions of an election may not be changed once the election has begun.
The Free Student, the CSR, and the UvA student disagreed and filed a case with the Council of State. On Wednesday afternoon, it ruled in favor of the UvA student. Because a case can legally only be brought by a person, only the student’s case was heard and those of the Free Student and the CSR were declared inadmissible. This nullifies the Central Voting Board’s earlier rejection to extend the voting period by two days. It also means that the provisional results cannot be announced today as planned.
Bastian Michel, Chairperson of the Central Voting Board, is pleased that the case has been declared admissible and there is now clarity. “We lost this case but have no self-interest in this issue except fair elections, so I think it’s a good ruling.”
The question remains as to exactly when the two-day extension will take effect. After all, the election officially ran until May 17th, and that date has already passed. The Central Elections Board is currently consulting with the software vendor and the student parties not present at the proceedings to reopen the digital polling stations from noon tomorrow until noon on Monday. It will be announced tomorrow morning whether that plan will go through.
