Student council elections might be postponed

Last week, an information and recruitment evening for potential candidates of the Faculty Student Council was canceled because of the corona crisis, like many other events. Only eight students had registered as candidates for one of the participating parties. Anne-Ruth Meijer, chair of the faculty student council and member of student party Lief, says it’s nearly impossible to recruit candidates on an empty campus. Recruitment must be completed by April 6 after which the formal nomination will take place whereby parties submit their lists in person to the central electoral committee. Meijer: ‘We therefore urge the UvA to postpone the elections.’

Pjotr van der Jagt, chairman of the central student council says, ‘the electoral committee is looking for alternate scenarios, such as postponing the elections or organising them in a different way’. This also applies to the nominations. Perhaps the lists of candidates could be submitted electronically’. No decision has yet been taken.

In recent years it has been difficult to find sufficient candidates for the student councils according to many, since students with loans tend not to want to prolong their studies. Meijer: ‘Students may fear additional study delays due to this crisis, which could make it even more difficult to recruit candidates.’