UBCO gets new student president amid allegations of flawed election

KELOWNA – The UBC Okanagan Student Union finally has a new president after a Monday re-vote was called to break a deadlocked tie amid accusations of fraud and mismanagement.

The vote, which took place on campus March 7 and 8, led to a tie between incumbent Ryan Kaila and Blake Edwards. A re-vote was called for Monday, March 21, and on Tuesday it was announced Edwards had won 428 to 397.

But some students claim the process was tainted and one student launched a Change.org petition alleging irregularities mismanagement of the voting process. The petition, which received 349 signatures by Tuesday morning, alleges some ballots were missing names, multiple ballots were accidentally handed out to individual voters, candidates were campaigning outside the voting station and votes were cast without privacy.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.