The Official University of Manitoba Students’ Newspaper
UMSU election results Colton McKillop, staff
T
he preliminary results of UMSU’s 2023 general election are in. Tracy Ayebare Karuhogo will be UMSU’s next president, receiving 32.9 per cent of votes to Victoria Romero’s 32.5 per cent — a difference of just 16 votes. Justin Langan received 22.1 per cent of ballots, while Roleen Alarab earned 12.5 per cent. Langan’s name appeared on the ballot despite his disqualification from the race two days before the vote. Divya Sharma beat Elishia Ratel for the position of vice-president community engagement with 52.9 per cent of the votes to Ratel’s 47.1 per cent. Liam Pittman is the new vice-president advocacy, earning 52.9 per cent of the vote, with competitor Ivan Nuñez Gamez receiving 47.1 per cent. Christine Yasay received 90.4 per cent “yes” votes in a race where she ran unopposed for the position of vice-president student life. New vice-president finance and operations Vaibhav Varma also ran unopposed following the disqualification of fellow candidate Peter Akiode. Varma earned 87.2 per cent of “yes” votes. Anita Ayame won 56.4 per
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cent of the vote to Zima Ndukwe’s 43.6 per cent in the race for Black student community representative. Alex Rana ran unopposed for 2SLGBTQIA+ community representative, receiving 83.6 per cent “yes” votes. The race for international student community representative was more competitive, featuring four candidates. Andrea Nguyen won 33.6 per cent of votes, beating Zeeshan Nisar’s 25.2 per cent. Dhruvi Shah and Naufil Ahmed Khan received 20.8 and 20.4 per cent, respectively. The position of racialized community representative will be filled by Allisther De Castro, who earned 59.1 percent of votes, defeating Sofreen Sandhu’s 40.9 per cent. Ishkode Catcheway received 89.8 per cent “yes” votes in a race where she ran unopposed. Witta Irumva and Caleigh Guillou both ran unopposed for their positions. Irumva won the position of women’s community representative with 93 per cent “yes” votes. Guillou received 90.2 “yes” votes for accessibility community representative. news@themanitoban.com
UMSU president announced after emergency meeting Gillian Brown, staff
Tracy Ayebare Karuhogo, president
Divya Sharma, VP community engagement
Liam Pittman, VP advocacy
Christine Yasay, VP student life
Vaibhav Varma, VP finance and operations
Anita Ayame, Black student community rep
Alex Rana, 2SLGBTQIA+ community rep
Andrea Nguyen, international student community rep
Allisther De Castro, racialized community rep
Ishkode Catchway, Indigenous students’ rep
Witta Irumva, women’s community rep
Caleigh Guillou, accessibility community rep
Two candidates disqualified from UMSU election Gillian Brown, staff Two UMSU executive candidates, Peter Akiode and Justin Langan, were disqualified from elections last week. Langan received two disqualifications, though the first was overturned through an informal appeal. While the rulings are available on the union’s website as of publication, only the second disqualification that Langan received was announced to the public out of the three. Akiode’s disqualification on March 5 and Langan’s first disqualification on Feb. 17 were never announced. Langan’s second, ruled on March 8, was not announced until a March 10 email containing the information was sent to all UMSU members 45 minutes before polls closed. Langan’s name appeared on the ballot, while Akiode’s did not. Akiode, a candidate for vice-president finance and operations, was disqualified following a complaint that he was using resources while campaigning that were not
available to all members of UMSU. Specifically, Akiode was seen tabling in University Centre as an employee with the company Neo Financial, which the complainant argued provided the candidate with additional opportunities to spread awareness of their name and likeness. Others also reported seeing Neo Financial representatives promoting Akiode’s campaign while discussing their services with students. Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Erin Robert determined these actions to be against the rules of the election. A second complaint that contributed to Akiode’s disqualification alleged that he had used bots to express support for his campaign on Instagram. The complaint provided 53 examples of comments posted in rapid succession on the Manitoban’s Instagram post introducing the candidates, all featuring similar messages encouraging students to vote for Akiode — including at least five from a
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single account. Akiode did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Presidential candidate Justin Langan faced disqualification last month for allegedly breaking rules regarding pre-campaigning. The complaint claimed that one of Langan’s official volunteers made posts on social media promoting his campaign before the official campaign period began. This was not the only complaint made against Langan, but it was the first that resulted in disqualification. Robert’s ruling determined that Langan’s campaign had “compromised the integrity of the entire election should [she] let [him] continue.” Despite this, Langan’s initial disqualification was overturned after an informal appeal and he was permitted to continue in the presidential race while receiving 30 demerits.
Cont’d p. 3 / A situation
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Following an emergency meeting on Monday concerning UMSU’s recent general election, the union’s board of directors ruled that Tracy Ayebare Karuhogo will become the next UMSU president with 32.9 per cent of the total vote. The meeting was scheduled after the disqualification of former presidential candidate Justin Langan and his subsequent appeal of the ruling to the UMSU judicial board. The board eventually upheld the disqualification, but in accordance with the appeal process, Langan remained on the ballot during the election while his appeal awaited a decision. Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Erin Robert presented a motion to have the presidential votes voided, which would have required another vote to be held involving the remaining three candidates — Karuhogo, Victoria Romero and Roleen Alarab. The union announced its new president via its Instagram on Monday night, but disabled comments on the post. UMSU’s board of directors ruled the CRO’s motion to be out of order. Before that, the March 10 email about Langan’s disqualification received by UMSU members 45 minutes before polls closed said that “any votes for this candidate will be voided.” The UMSU election manual requires the CRO to bring requests of this nature to the judicial board for review. However, Robert said that “due to the time sensitive nature” of the issue and recent resignations on the judicial board, she went to the UMSU board of directors instead. Robert’s decision to disqualify Langan claimed that he broke the rules outlined in the elections manual and that he violated copyright law by plagiarizing a copyrighted website. Langan acknowledged that the “navigational portion” as well as text on his website containing the phrase “this is your movement” were similar to U.S. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s webpage, but he does not believe he violated any copyright law. The disqualification upheld by the judicial board was Langan’s second. The first concerned rules allegedly broken by Langan’s campaign regarding pre-campaigning on social media. Cont’d p. 4 / Emergency
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