SOG, Calimero, win council elections

SOG and Lijst Calimero were the clear student winners of the university council elections last week. Both parties won five seats. As for the staff section of the council: the science faction stole a seat from the personnel faction.
By Giulia Fabrizi / Translation by Sarah van Steenderen

The announcement was made on Monday afternoon in Restaurant Academia in the Academy building, where students – mainly from the student faction – showed up to hear the results and, in some cases, celebrate them.

The Democratic Academy Groningen (DAG) lost a seat, going from two to one. De Vrije Student (DVS) retained its single seat. International Platform, Matej Pop-Duchev’s one-man party that came on the scene about a week before the elections, did not secure a seat. One Man Gang, currently on the council with one seat, didn’t participate in the elections.

This is what the student section in the university council will look like:

  • SOG: 5
  • Calimero: 5
  • DAG: 1
  • International Platform: 0
  • DVS: 1

Turnout

The staff section of the council changed as well. The science faction won an extra seat, to the detriment of the personnel faction. This means next year, the personnel section will have eight seats, while the science faction will have four.

Turnout for the election was up this year from last year: from 30.7 percent to 36.1 percent. Unfortunately, fewer students voted: the percentage dropped from 26 to 24.9.

Largest party

‘Calimero is the largest party!’ Calimero member Matthias Luijks says. Like SOG, the party went from four seats to five. ‘How do I feel? Happy and joyful’, Luijks said on Monday afternoon after the results were announced.

De Vrije Student was moderately happy. ‘I’m glad we managed to retain our seat’, said Jasper van der Aa. ‘Although I was hoping we’d win one. But in the end I’m glad we still have a say in the council.’

Faculty turnout

The RUG also announced the results from the elections for the faculty and employee councils. After a steady decline in voting turnout across faculties over the past several years, this year saw finally saw that downward trend start to rise.

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