In a sweeping victory, Broaden Your Horizons candidate Braydon Broad has been elected as the 2020 Tasmania University Union President, with 14 candidates from his team of 17 voted in.

1590 students voted in the annual elections, 6.3 per cent of the total number of eligible students. The turnout is the highest for a TUU election in eight years and almost doubles last year’s number of 823 voters. 

Broad overcame a challenge from Benjamin Dudman, 611 votes to 393. Dudman led the Connect ticket throughout the campaign, which won four positions.

Incumbent Matthew Clark was defeated by Joel Philpott for the Deputy President position, while Ali Ghahremanlou was returned to the Postgraduate President position for a second term. 

Connect’s major win was the return of Gabrielle Carswell to the position of Societies President, who overcame a challenge from Ruby Burgess by 57 votes.

Josh Rowlands was comfortably elected on an approval ballot to the Sports President role.

In the three-way race for the Campus President South, Sophie Crothers was elected easily over Ben Bromfield and David Bester.

Rounding out the State Council, Joji Kinivuwai has been named as Campus President North and Shirene Munday elected as Campus President Cradle Coast.

Dudman took to his campaign Facebook page to congratulate Broad and his team.

“Congratulations and commiserations to all candidates who put their hand up this election,” he said. 

“I will continue to fight for fairness and students’ rights for as long as I study at the University of Tasmania.”

Current TUU President Sharifah Syed-Rohan, who endorsed Broad’s team, said she was “thrilled” with the level of engagement.

“I am proud to see such a high voter turnout. I think this is a testament to the importance of an independent voice at UTAS and the quality of candidates,” she said. 

“I look forward to working with the newly elected representatives to ensure the TUU continues to reach its full potential.”

Three candidates were elected unopposed and five positions received no nominations.

Stay up to date with news from the TUU by following @togatus_ and #polituu #TUUelections on Twitter.

FULL LIST OF RESULTS:

STATE COUNCIL
Statewide President – Braydon Broad
Braydon Broad (BYH) – 611
Benjamin Dudman (Connect) – 393

Deputy President – Joel Philpott
Joel Philpott (BYH) – 623
Matthew Clark (Connect) – 342

Postgraduate President – Ali Ghahremanlou
Ali Ghahremanlou (BYH) – 584
Davin Lui – 360

Sports President – Josh Rowlands (BYH)
YES: 837
NO: 88

Societies President – Gabrielle Carswell
Gabrielle Carswell (Connect) – 482
Ruby Burgess (BYH) – 425

Campus President South – Sophie Crothers
Sophie Crothers (BYH) – 545
Ben Bromfield (Connect) – 175
David Bester – 139 

Campus President North – Joji Kinivuwai
Joji Kinivuwai (BYH) – 172
Samuel Mangalathu Raj –  139
Lloyd Burch (Connect) – 116 

Campus President Cradle Coast – Shirene Munday
Shirene Munday – 55
Angela Cannell (Connect) – 33

SRC SOUTH
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Officer – VACANT

Disabilities Officer – Bronte Mohr (BYH)

Environment Officer – Bethany Becker
Bethany Becker (BYH) – 487
Gypsy Mahar (Connect) – 233
Tabitha Dempsey – 106

International Students Officer – Maisha Jaleel
Maisha Jaleel (Connect) – 397
Nicholas Kumar (BYH) – 256
Tash Siddiquee – 157

Postgraduate Officer – VACANT

Queer Officer – Lily Russell
Lily Russell (BYH) – 461
Pius Kung – 335

Welfare Officer – Tim Lippis
Tim Lippis (BYH) – 451
Jingjing (Tracey) Liu (Connect) – 336

Women’s Officer – Maddie Webster
Maddie Webster (BYH) – 402
Isabella Duffie (Connect) – 373

SRC NORTH
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Officer – VACANT

Disabilities Officer – RickiLee Stickler 

Environment Officer – Cathereen Phua
Cathereen Phua (BYH) – 193
Chirack Kadima – 102
Edward King-Grey (Connect) – 98

International Students Officer – Ratchata (Zac) Panyadong
Ratchata (Zac) Panyadong (Connect) – 246
Kai Mun Chan (BYH) – 144

Postgraduate Officer – Danni Ding
Danni Ding (Connect) – 203
Lanxin Chen – 174

Queer Officer – VACANT

Welfare Officer – Rizza Poh
Rizza Poh (BYH) – 152
Libby Grimditch – 126
Emil Piper (Connect) – 81

Women’s Officer – Joey Millenia Safriti
Joey Millenia Safriti (BYH) – 158
Hannah Israel (Connect) – 111
Shelley Thornton – 77

SRC CRADLE COAST
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Officer – Tahana Radford

Postgraduate Officer – VACANT

Welfare Officer – Fiona Knapman
Fiona Knapman – 51
Victoria Sparkes (Connect) – 31