Announcement after the 7th sitting of the ad hoc Commission for the 2023/2024 term on amendments to the Regulations of the Students’ Union

12 06 2024

We would like to inform you that during the 7th sitting of the ad hoc Commission of the Students’ Parliament of the UW for the 2023/2024 term on amendments to the Regulations of the Students’ Union of the UW:

Commission continued the discussion on the timing of the election activities in the elections conducted by the Electoral Commission of the Students’ Union of the UW.

The Commission returned to the subject, interrupted at the previous sitting, of the periods of the academic year during which elections of student representatives in units could be held. The discussion on this topic was a consequence of the fact that at the fourth sitting of the Commission, it was decided on an amendment repealing the current § 12 section 2 of the Electoral Regulations of the Students’ Union of the UW.

As a result of the vote, the Commission agreed to ban elections during examination sessions, winter holidays and the inter-semester break. It also agreed to introduce the possibility of holding by-elections for the Council of the Students’ Union and the Residents’ Council during the summer holidays in a situation where the number of members of these bodies would fall below half, with such elections being obligatory if the number fell below three. The Commission also agreed that the existing § 12 section 2 of the Electoral Regulations of the Students’ Union of the UW should continue to apply to the autumn elections.

Commission discussed the form of election announcements and the rules for publishing them, as well as ballots for student elections and other changes to election regulations.

The Commission agreed to the request that the Electoral Commission should forward election announcements to the Council of the Students’ Union and the Residents’ Council well in advance. However, it did not decide to vote on a specific time space for this activity. In addition, it agreed that the primary form of publication of election notices should be via university email.

There was also a discussion on what the content of the ballot paper should be in elections conducted under the Regulations of the Students’ Union of the UW. In the end, the Commission decided to postpone consideration of this issue until a later date.

The Commission also discussed the lack of prerequisites for the division into electoral districts and the lack of prerequisites for determining the number of electoral districts in elections to the Council of the Students’ Union existing in the Regulations of the Students’ Union of the UW. The solution adopted by the Commission envisages the introduction of a new provision, according to which, in doing so, relevant circumstances peculiar to a given unit and ensuring the capacity of the Council of the Students’ Union to act would be taken into account.