Fourteen students have confirmed that they are seeking nomination as candidates for UMSU executive and community representative positions for the 2015 UMSU General Election.
The nomination period for the 2015 UMSU General Election opened Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. and closes Feb. 13 at 5 p.m.
The students that are seeking nomination for the UMSU General Election have been around campus collecting signatures. One hundred signatures collected from U of M students are needed for nomination for the executive positions, and 15 student signatures for the community representative positions.
The current list of students seeking nomination is not final and is subject to change.
The candidate list will only be finalized after the nomination period has closed and the candidates have attended the All Candidates Meeting on Feb. 13. As a result, it is possible that students could join the race at the last minute, or that students could drop out.
However, the Manitoban has been able to confirm two different slates are currently seeking nomination for the executive candidate positions.
One slate includes current UMSU vice-president internal Jeremiah Kopp for president, current UMSU vice-president advocacy Rebecca Kunzman running for re-election in the same position, Jessica Morrison for vice-president student services, Christopher Bélanger for vice-president internal, and Astitwa Thapa for vice-president external.
The other slate has Spencer Yasui running for president, Jesse Greenberg for vice-president advocacy, Bénédicte LeMaître for vice-president student services, Zach Leclerc for vice-president internal, and Reanna Blair for vice-president external.
The Manitoban has been able to identify four students currently seeking nomination for community representative positions.
Will Landon is seeking the nomination for UMSU aboriginal students’ representative; Andrew Fenwick is seeking nomination for students living with disabilities representative; Charles Kimball is seeking nomination for gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gendered, two-spirited* students’ representative; and Fariba Shakibani is seeking nomination for UMSU Women’s representative.
The Manitoban was unable to confirm whether anyone is currently seeking nomination for UMSU international students’ representative.
In order to adhere to UMSU General Election regulations regarding pre-election marketing, candidates’ biographies will not be released before the nomination period has closed and the list of candidates has been finalized.
All general election campaigning will begin at 9 a.m. on Feb. 23.
The UMSU election campaign commences on Monday, Feb. 23. The voting period will be held from Wednesday, March 4 to Friday, March 6 at various locations throughout the University of Manitoba. Visit the official UMSU General Elections website, operated by the Chief Returning Officer, at umsu.ca/elections for more information.
