ASFA Byelection Results

Arts and Science Undergrads Elect New VP Finance, VP External Affairs and Sustainability, Independent Councillor

NewsMichael Wrobel — Published November 19, 2013 | Updated November 19, 2013 at 3:15am

Approximately 460 students cast their ballots during the three days of polling, according to Arts and Science Federation of Associations Chief Electoral Officer Trevor Wilkinson.

Wilkinson told The Link that “everything went pretty well according to plan” except for a minor problem on the first day of the byelection, when some staff members were having trouble logging onto computers and accessing the software that prevents students from voting at more than one polling stations.

Wilkinson also said there weren’t any major violations of campaign rules by any of the candidates.

“There was a little glitch in terms of where a couple of candidates had put their posters,” he said, adding that he referred the issue to ASFA’s judicial committee to see if there was indeed a violation of the association’s bylaws.

“The judicial committee ruled on it and said that there was no malicious intent and it wasn’t a problem where they placed their posters.”

Stefanie Broos won the VP Finance race with 247 votes to rival David Ness’s 137 votes. Broos has organized events as a member of various clubs in CEGEP and at Concordia, but she’ll now be responsible for a much larger budget and admitted she’ll have to overcome a steep learning curve.

“I have a good sense of [how much] things cost and how much money needs to go to certain things, and I will be able to make good judgment calls because of the experience that I have with organizing events,” she told The Link ahead of the byelection.

Alexa Hinves was elected VP External Affairs and Sustainability, earning 243 votes compared to Ivan Makhrov’s 127 votes.

Hinves campaigned on a five-point platform promising more outreach to local businesses to pave the way for new sponsorships next year, more collaboration with other student associations and a reform of ASFA’s policies to require that the association actually organize events that promote environmental sustainability.

Melina Ghio was elected an independent councillor with 250 votes to Tarik Shukr’s 120 votes.