TCDSU ELECTIONS 2024 Monday 26 February, 2024
Clear Leaders In All But Two Races
The most contested races, Welfare & Equality and Comms & Marketing, are set for a close finish on Thursday. Alex Payne ASSISTANT EDITOR
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he University Times Sabbatical Elections 2024 poll was conducted over a five-day period from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th February. Receiving 274 responses, representative of approximately 1.3 per cent of the student population or approximately 10 per cent of the average turnout per year in the sabbatical elections, The University Times poll reveals that all but two of the six races polled are likely to be decided on the first count. The election is run by the single transferable vote system, meaning that, in the event of a tight race on the first count, candidates not reaching the quota for a potential win will be eliminated and their votes will be redistributed to the candidate who was voted next in preference on each ballot. This process will continue until a winner is found. The calculation used to define the quota often determines that, on the first count, a candidate needs to secure just over 50 per cent of first-preference votes to win. On the first count, the poll suggests that next year’s Trinity
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The two most contested races with three candidates in each, are the most likely to require at least one candidate to be eliminated for a winner to be declared.
College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President will be Jenny Maguire, the Education Officer will be Eoghan Gilroy, the Ents Officer will be Peadar Walsh and The University Times (UT) Editor will be Charlie Hastings. Out of these, the race for UT Editor is most likely to go to a second round of counting, with Charlie Hastings securing 53 per cent of first-preference votes. The races for Welfare and Equality and Comms and Marketing Officers, the two most contested races with three candidates in each, are the most likely to require at least one candidate to be eliminated for a winner to be declared. In the race for Welfare & Equality Officer, Hamza Bana received 49 per cent of first-preference votes. They will likely win following the distribution of eliminated candidates’ votes, due a strong second-preference vote for Bana amongst those who voted to Reopen nominations (RON) and, if needed, Nathan Harrington as first-preference. The race for Comms and Marketing Officer is likely to require more vote redistribution than the race for Welfare & Equality, with Beth Strahan receiving the most first-preference votes with 42 per cent, followed by Connor Dempsey with 31 per cent. With the RON vote accounting for five per cent of all votes, it is unlikely to have any effect upon redistribution, meaning the redistribution of Murnane’s 22 per cent of first-preference votes will decide the race. Out of Murnane’s first-preference votes, Dempsey receives more second-preference votes than Beth Strahan, indicating this may be the closest race of the TCDSU 2024 Sabbatical Elections. If the race for UT Editor needs RON to be eliminated for a winner to be called, the votes for Hastings as second-preference amongst the redistributed votes of RON indicates he will win the election.
PHOTO BY BRIDGET MCBRUISER FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES
Voter Demographics: Junior Fresh Vote Carries Potential to Change Election Outcomes The University Times poll asked respondents their academic year, faculty association, gender, if they were an international student, if they were a mature student and whether they had ever held a position within the TCDSU. The poll reveals that 97 per cent of respondents are undergraduates. The greatest proportion are Senior Sophister students at 37 per cent. The proportion decreases in order of academic year, with Junior Freshman making up 11 per cent of respondents. However, postgraduates and 5th year students have the smallest proportions, with three per cent and two per cent respectively. Due to drop-out rates and fail-
ures to progress, there are generally more Junior Fresh students than Senior Sophister. Amongst Junior Fresh students there is a stronger preference for Sé Ó hEidhin as Education Officer, Hannah McAuley as Welfare and Equality Officer, Sarah Murnane as Comms and Marketing Officer and Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce as University Times Editor than any other candidate. Unlikely, however, to affect the Education and Comms and Marketing Officer races, if Junior Fresh students turn out to vote in more representative numbers McAuley for Welfare and Equality and Ní FhearraighJoyce for UT Editor may receive a much needed boost in
support needed to threaten Bana and Hastings respectively. 75 per cent of respondents are from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS), 19 per cent are from the Faculty of Engineering, Maths and Science (EMS) and 6 per cent are from the Faculty of Health Sciences (HS). This distribution is somewhat unrepresentative of the undergraduate student body. In the year 2021/22, out of 13,565 undergraduate students, 46 per cent were AHSS, 37 per cent EMS and 17 per cent HS students. If voter turnout is more representative in terms of Faculty as-
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