Appeal against results student council elections
Tammie Schoots, leader of the Anti-corona party, is appealing to the Appeals Tribunal for Higher Education (CBHO) to overturn the decision of the UvA’s electoral committee to declare the results of the student council elections valid.
Schoots wants to put an end to the ‘corrupt culture’ that, in her eyes, characterises the student council elections at the UvA. ‘I want us to have a fair, democratic system,’ she says. According to her, this is not the case now, partly because participating parties are ‘sponsored by multinationals’. Schoots, a member of the student council of the Faculty of Humanities, wants a level playing field for all parties.
During the elections of June 8-12 2020, student parties organised all kinds of events where students had the opportunity to win prizes. This created ‘a culture of bribery’ Schoots believes, who went to the UvA central polling station after the elections and objected to the result. The central electoral committee declared her objection unfounded, partly because Schoots had failed to sufficiently demonstrate that bribery had actually taken place. The election result was declared valid, even if shrouded in a sense of controversy since a judge has had to review the decision.
Schoots: ‘What I expect is that the CBHO annuls the decision of the central electoral committee to validate the election result. What I would prefer is for an independent committee to be set up that will review student democracy at the UvA and come up with proposals to combat corruption.’
