UMSU elections: polls closed, too close to call
Polls have closed in the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) 2016 annual student election. At the close of polls, the result for the coveted position of President is too close to call between the favourites, Stand Up!’s Adriana Mells and More!’s Yan Zhuang.
The position of President is counted day by day and booth by booth, and each candidate has led at one time or one place.
Our election result liveblog has the latest news from the count room.
Ticket scrutineers in the room described the result as “odd” and “weird”, complaining that the head-to-head results varied widely from what they would have expected, making predicting a result difficult. The general view is the result is tipping slightly in favour of More!’s Zhuang, but could easily go either way.
Both Stand Up! and More! have had scrutineers in the counting room since the process started, although no other tickets elected to send scrutineers.
Turn-out for the day was high, with the FBE Building recording 91 votes, the Baillieu Library booth recording 314 votes, and Union House was at 330 votes at 4.30pm, half an hour before polls closed. (The polling places at the VCA and Burnley don’t operate on Friday.)
Counting commenced at 12noon, under locked-up conditions, on the second floor of Union House. Most of the first few hours were dedicated to checking seals, unstapling ballot packs and sorting papers, but the count for President commenced in earnest.
Follow our liveblog here: election result liveblog