After a twelve-day campaign period, Jovan Popovic was elected president of the MSU for the 2024-2025 academic year
On Jan. 25, Jovan Popovic was announced the president of the McMaster Students Union for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Popovic was elected with a total of 3620 votes. The minimum number of votes required to elect a president is 2149.
Approximately 16.4 per cent of the undergraduate student body voted in the election, or 4469 students out of a total 27, 690.
It should be noted that Popovic was ranked amongst two other candidates, Luca Bernardini and Muhammad Ammad Ahsan. Jialiang (Kevin) Hu was disqualified from the presidential race due to receiving 7 standard violations and 3 severe fines as per MSU Elections.
"Please note, due to severe election rules violations, Jialiang (Kevin) Hu was disqualified. The Elections Committee has determined that the candidate has received 7 standard violations and 3 severe fines, accumulating a fines amount that exceeds half of the spending limit, leading to an automatic disqualification (Rule 7.12)," written on the MSU Elections Department website.
Hu may appeal his fines and disqualification to be heard by the Elections Committee. He may further appeal to the Electoral Appeal Board which consists of the MSU Speaker, the Secretary of the University Senate and a McMaster community member who does not sit on the Student Representative Assembly.
Popovic's campaign prioritized alleviating food and housing insecurity, improve student events and transit, as well as advocate for changes to McMaster's policies on the use of generative artificial intelligence. More about Popovic's platform can be read here, as well as the Silhouette's critique on the president-elect.
This marks the first time since the 1980s that an MSU president has won re-election.
For more information, visit the MSU elections website.
Key promises of Bernardini's platform include a new MSU app, total renovation of TwelvEighty and reforming EDIIA practices in the MSU
Luca Bernardini is a fourth-year student running for president of the McMaster Student Union. Bernardini has coined his platform as “Operation Reframe”, comprising five distinct pillars.
“By gathering various perspectives around the university, many of the MSU practices and services desperately need to be [r]eframed and I intend to be the individual that does so,” Bernardini stated in the opening letter of his platform.
By gathering various perspectives around the university, many of the MSU practices and services desperately need to be [r]eframed and I intend to be the individual that does so.
Luca Bernardini, McMaster Students Union presidential candidate, in his written platform
Enhancing student experiences
Pillar one discusses Bernardini’s plans for enhancing student experiences. Bernardini proposes a total renovation of TwelvEighty Bar and Grill, including new seating, interior design implementations, extended hours and menu changes.
Additionally, Bernardini proposes holding events at the new MSU building, the Hub, which is expected to open before the end of this academic year and he proposes to bring back on-campus homecoming.
MSU app and other technological innovations
Bernardini's second pillar introduces proposals for technological innovations within the MSU. His platform outlines the introduction an MSU app, which will offer rewards, such as cash vouchers for MSU food services, to students in exchange for filling out feedback forms on student union events.
In Bernardini’s third pillar, he discusses more details of the MSU app, proposing a personalized information feed for each student, utilizing artificial intelligence. Bernardini states that each student will be asked 10-15 questions that will train the app’s AI profile and curate a personalized feed.
Equity, diversity, inclusion, Indigeneity and accessibility
The fourth pillar discusses changes to the MSU’s equity, diversity, inclusion, Indigeneity and accessibility policies and practices. Bernardini discusses his experience as president of the McMaster Science Society where he has worked to improve EDIIA practices . Bernardini aims to conduct a full scope review of current EDIIA practices in the MSU and finalize a written Memorandum of Understanding with other on-campus organizations based on his findings.
Pillar four also discusses issues with academic advocacy, suggesting that changes must be made to accommodation services and Student Accessibility Services. Bernardini also advocates for the implementation of universal design in learning.
“Major advocacy work is in order here to open the floor to the discussion of universal design of learning being implemented in more courses at McMaster,” stated Bernardini in his written platform.
Major advocacy work is in order here to open the floor to the discussion of Universal Design of learning being implemented in more courses at McMaster.
Luca Bernardini, McMaster Students Union presidential candidate, in his written platform
Changes to clubs advisory committee
Lastly, Bernardini’s fifth pillar discusses changes to the MSU’s interaction with clubs and faculty societies. Bernardini proposes hiring more members to the clubs advisory committee and posting information in the MSU app to keep students informed.
Additional points: Restructuring the president's council
Bernardini also emphasized the importance of bringing back and restructuring the president’s council.
“Despite my efforts to encourage the current MSU administration to hold the President’s Council this year, not a single meeting has occurred. I am suggesting a full restructuring of this meeting that will work to promote collaboration and rich discussion between these groups, while breaking away from the nature of update based meetings,” stated Bernardini in his written platform.
Voting for the MSU presidential election takes place from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25 using the Simply Voting platform. More information about the election can be found on the MSU Elections website.
This story has been edited to reflect new information revealed since its initial publication.
Now well over a month since the campaign period ended, the McMaster Students Union finally has an official MSU president-elect: Ikram Farah. Following this year’s race, students may see changes in the Elections Department as they reconsider their current system.
This year’s MSU presidential election saw two disqualifications, something unheard of in the MSU’s history. Candidates Farah and Rabeena Obaidullah were both disqualified.
Both candidates appealed to the highest electoral board, the Electoral Appeals Board, whose decisions are final and binding. According to the declarations released on March 13, the EAB overturned a series of violations for both candidates and reinstated both.
The rationale behind Farah’s disqualification and for both candidates’ reinstatement remains unclear as the MSU has not yet released the minutes from any of these meetings. On March 13, both Obaidullah and Farah were reinstated, resulting in Farah securing the MSU presidency.
On March 11, the Elections Department presented a delegation to the Student Representative Assembly, where they outlined some of their major issues with the current system for electoral appeals and fines.
The two representatives, Shaarujaa Nadarajah and Iku Nwosu, spoke of the difficulties the Elections Department and committee have.
In particular, they highlighted three major issues: limited information, a strict time constraint and lack of perspective as to why certain fines were submitted.
During an election, all MSU presidential candidates are subject to the Elections Department’s rules. If found violating multiple rules, the Elections Department has the power to disqualify a candidate.
According to the meeting minutes from the Election Department’s Jan. 25 meeting, Obaidullah was disqualified for campaigning in private Facebook groups, among other infractions.
The exact reasoning behind Farah’s disqualification remains unclear as the meeting minutes from Election Department’s Feb. 5 meeting have not been released, but according to press releases, two additional violations were ratified at this meeting against Farah, resulting in her disqualification.
During the March 11 SRA meeting, Nadarajah stated that one of the major limitations of the current fines process as the limited information presented to the committee.
Currently, elections committee members are presented all complaint forms the night the voting period ends and are expected to come to a final decision before the night is over.
When it comes to fines, elections committee must decide whether or not to fine a candidate based on a complaint form which they received a few hours prior to the election night meeting.
The form asks the complainant to outline the infraction, tie it to a rule and provide any supplementary evidence along with a witness signature.
Candidates are only informed of their fines following the final decisions. Candidates may contest fines, so long as they announce their intent to appeal a decision within five business days.
“One of the limitations of elections committee is that we can only look at what’s in front of us… a paragraph is describing a situation to us,” Nadarajah said.
In addition, Nadarajah also stressed that the time limit meant the elections committee would be forced to do a cost-benefit analysis of their decisions and ultimately value the quickest decision in order to announce a president-elect before the next morning.
Nadarajah also stated that while the elections committee has eight members, it only needs five to reach quorum, meaning that under certain circumstances only three members are enough to disqualify a candidate.
She also discussed the subjectivity of election committee’s decisions, namely that it is difficult for the election committee to establish when a candidate has impacted the integrity of an election.
They then went over the structure of other student union electoral offices, such as the University of Western Ontario and Queen’s University. UWO uses a demerit system and candidates are informed of any fines throughout the campaign period. At UWO, 30 demerit points automatically results in a disqualification.
At Queen’s, their equivalent elections team is comprised of five others in addition to the Chief Returning Officer and each person has a specific job, whether that be investigating fines or handling finances.
Both Nadarajah and Nwosu stated that the Elections Department may need to mirror some of these systems, whether it follow UWO’s quantitative approach or Queen’s and its delegation of duties.
Nadarajah and Nwosu offered a list of recommendations for reform. They argued they should increase transparency between candidates and their office with respect to fines, increase the threshold within the elections committee to disqualify a candidate from half the committee to two-thirds the committee and better outline and detail the appeals process.
This year’s MSU presidential election and its disqualifications was unprecedented event that may alter the way in which elections are run through the MSU.
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The games have begun.On Friday, the candidates for President of the McMaster Students Union were confirmed and announced. Five students have put their names on the ballot, each with the goal of leading a multi-million dollar organization focused on improving life at Mac.
This year’s slate includes five men: Matt Clarke, Corey Helie-Masters, Ehima Osazuwa, Tristan Paul, and John Tambakis.
We asked each of these newly declared candidates why they wanted to be MSU President.
I want to be MSU President to make a difference at this school, and really incorporate community and the way that we call McMaster home and the way that we all interact and create relationships.
I have wanted to be MSU President ever actually since one of my first days in school here. And the day I decided to run actually was … the middle of my first year, about five years ago, when Matthew Dillon-Lietch—I was on his campaign team—the night he won was the night I was like I need to do this, because this might just be one of the best things that I could ever be involved in. The idea of working for the MSU and having the opportunity to do all these fantastic things—it’s so exciting.
I’m running for MSU President because I want to make a difference to the lives of the students and the McMaster Students Union … I feel I’m very qualified to lead the organization. I’m running for MSU President to be the change I want to see in the organization.
Traditionally, the MSU, when we talk about engaging students we often say that students don’t want to get involved, they don’t really care about issues on campus. What this past year has showed me, and especially from first year to now, I’ve realized that students do care about issues. They do want to get engaged in the conversation, but right now there aren’t those mechanisms in place to do that. So why I’m running—well, I want to connect students to the MSU.
I thought this was a great chance to put students first and make sure that students are the centre of the university experience in every facet.
The campaign will officially begin Sunday, Jan. 18 at 12 p.m. Stay tuned at thesil.ca for ongoing coverage of the election.
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="2" gal_title="2015-16 MSU Presidential candidates"]
Rory Yendt is looking to “engineer a better student union.” The question is, how much does he know about the current student union?
RELATED: Selected questions and answers from our interview with Rory
Yendt, a second-year student and a SRA member, is campaigning with the primary aim of making the MSU a more financially transparent body. He wants every ancillary fee to go to referenda at least once every four-year period so that students can see where they’re money is going.
Referencing the recent financial mismanagement of MAPS, Yendt stated, “I believe students now more than ever want to know what’s going on with their money.”
Another finance-based platform point – creating an MSU scholarship – seeks to use the MSU surplus to help students who demonstrate financial need pay for their studies.
He especially distinguishes himself from the archetypical politician by stating his intention to avoid pandering and structuring his platform purely on buzz topics.
“I believe [running for MSU president] comes down to taking it a bit more seriously and basing it a lot more on what you plan on doing rather than just trying to convince voters,” he said.
However, Yendt’s campaign often reflects a lack of thoroughness and student consultation. The proposal for a 24-hr student space in Thode certainly addresses the widespread concern over campus capacity. But other platform points have either already been addressed (in the case of the MSU making its financial documents accessible on its website) or ignore the extent of the President’s role in addressing academic, administrative and community issues.
In his deciding to run only two weeks ago, Yendt sold himself short and limited his ability to compete with other experienced or well-researched candidates. Given how the MSU Presidentials are typically dominated by upper-year students with extensive political experience, in this election Yendt seems out of his depth.
Within two days after being elected MSU President, he plans to disband the entire Union.
RELATED: Selected questions and answers from our interview with Adrian
Adrian Emmanuel is running to be elected (for-life) as Emperor Adrian of the Space Maroon Empire. Emmanuel has been contemplating a run since last year’s presidential election, and in the past year developed his platform for the Space Maroon Empire.
Steeped in space-fiction ideology, Emmanuel’s campaign has been a mostly grassroots endeavor, run by the candidate himself and centred on promotion via Facebook and a platform video on Youtube. He envisions McMaster as more than a school and aims to win the hearts and minds of each and every person at McMaster – through force, if necessary.
“I will remove anyone who is in my way … [But] the administration has the right to know I’m going to turn their space into a country … even if there’s nothing they can do about it.
“As I’ve told people, I’m an emperor, not an asshole.”
While Emmanuel’s passion and dedication to the job is clear, his platform struggles to identify clear short-term goals, and comes off too forward-thinking and long-term for the average student voter to appreciate. In the short-term, Emmanuel plans to convert TwelvEighty into an alternative dance facility.
But Emmanuel relies on his life-long rule to accomplish his major feats: growing an on-campus military and launching the entire campus into space as a battleship colony.
While Emmanuel’s illusions of grandeur may be interpreted as theatre of the absurd, he hits surprisingly close to home in identifying a core issue: the bureaucratization of campus. His plans to dismantle the MSU are about eliminating red tape, telling students exactly where their money goes and what it is used for and consequently building students’ trust in their student body.
Brian Decker
Executive Editor
The McMaster Students Union Elections Committee did not receive any formal complaints about the 2012 presidential election, according to Chief Returning Officer Steven Thompson.
“We make a technical complaint system available so anyone can say if they think there’s anything wrong with the system. We didn’t get any official complaints this year,” said Thompson.
Complaints, which can be lodged within 48 hours of the election results, can be sent to request a recount or dispute the election’s results.
The absence of complaints comes despite candidate Alex Ramirez’s claim that the vote was “manipulated,” and that it was “literally impossible” that he received only the 704 first-place votes he tallied. Ramirez posted the claim as a blog entry on his campaign website and Facebook page.
Ramirez finished fifth in the election and was eliminated in the first round of voting.
“Far too many things happened during the campaign to have only generated 704 first place votes, and to have come in dead last,” said Ramirez on his blog, proceeding to list a number of circumstances during the campaign period that he believed indicated more students sending their votes his way.
Aside from anecdotes and some figures – the 5,200 pamphlets his team circulated and the 2,700 web page visits to his site on the two voting days – Ramirez did not list any evidence to explain how the vote would have been manipulated.
The 2012 vote was run by the website SimplyVoting.com, which Thompson said has no access other than the accumulation and automatic calculation of votes.
A voting receipt that allows students to double check their ballot is also available on the site. Students can log in, check their ballot receipt and download a spreadsheet of the election results.
One possible source of contention over the vote’s result may have come from the timing of the vote’s switch to online-only. The system was changed from paper balloting to online on Jan. 20, one day after the all-candidates meeting and the announcement of the eligible candidates.
Additionally, Thompson said, candidates were notified of the possible switch to exclusively online voting at and prior to the all-candidates meeting, at which time the switch was contingent upon receiving permission from the Registrar’s office.
“It was unfortunate we had to do it sort of last-minute, but it was a choice between that and not going online when we had the ability to,” said Thompson
This year’s MSU presidential election saw a 33.4 per cent voter turnout – the highest since 1998 – and an all-time gross record with a total of 6,703 student votes.
