Following the complaints regarding the mis-running of the Social Clubs Committee elections last term, ICU Exec met last week to hear the complaints and to try to sort out the situation. Statements were heard at the meeting, although both neither the Returning Officer nor current Chair were able to attend.

The original complaint revolved around the Returning Officer's decision to extend the nominations period after the original deadline had passed. Faced with an appeal against the Returning Officer's decision, ICU Exec was faced with three options (i) to ratify the election, (ii) to re-run the election or (iii) to disqualify a candidate. The Exec decided against ratification of the election as they believed the extension of the nominations period had been unfair, and the option to disqualify a candidate was not available as this was not a case of malpractise by a candidate. The Exec therefore decided to re-run the election.

The option of re-running the elections with the candidates that were seconded at 2pm on the day was considered, although it was unclear precisely who these were (hence the reason for the complaints). The Exec came to the conclusion to re-run the entire election from the beginning. This includes re-opening nominations for all positions, and appointing a new returning officer, Phil Power. It was felt that this was the only option, as with the email announcing the extension to voting being sent out in the afternoon, it did not acually reach all potential candidates and hence a full re-run is necessary. The timetable for the election is expected to be announced in due course.