By Anastasia Blosser, Dexter LeRuez and Gabriela Silva Ponte
The Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) announced in its newsletter that the 2023 byelection will run between Oct. 30 and Nov. 22.
According to its website, the TMSU will host the nomination period between Oct. 30 and Nov. 3 through a Google Forms format.
Slate declaration forms and ballot name forms will be due Nov. 10, followed by the campaign period between Nov. 14 to Nov. 22. The voting days will be Nov. 20, 21 and 22, according to the TMSU’s elections webpage.
“This is an opportunity to put your name forth to lead and guide the students’ union from November 28, 2023 until April 30, 2024,” the students’ union said in a newsletter email sent out to the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) community Thursday afternoon.
All positions are up for election, with section 8.3 of the TMSU bylaws stating what a candidate running must do in order to be considered eligible.
Faculty directors hoping to run will need to be a member of the faculty they are running for and be nominated by at least 25 individuals who are members of that same faculty.
International student director candidates must be international students themselves and be nominated by at least 25 students who have international status.
Board of Directors (BoD) candidates must be nominated by at least 50 TMU community members.
All candidates who are interested in running must complete a mandatory board and elections training according to section 8.4 of the TMSU bylaws.
According to section 4.17.1 of the TMSU bylaws, a byelection will be initiated in the month of September “provided that a vacancy occurs during the months of May, June or July.” Until the vacancy is filled, “the Executive Committee may designate an interim Director to fill the vacant office subject to Board approval.”
Earlier this year, the TMSU’s initial spring 2023 election was deemed invalid, according to a special decision released by the Elections and Referenda Committee (ERC) and as previously reported by The Eyeopener.
The initial election was rescheduled to a new, in-person, physical ballot in April of this year.
But, after several infractions of the TMSU’s Elections Procedures Code, the in-person election was also cancelled, as previously reported by The Eye.
The ERC then released a statement calling for a byelection this fall, interviewing for and appointing an interim BoD, as previously reported by The Eye.
The current BoD started their term on May 1 and will continue to hold office until Nov. 3.
The TMSU has not yet commented on whether or not those disqualified from the spring election will be able to re-run. The students’ union has also not announced if the election will include an in-person, physical ballot or otherwise.
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