The results of the University Observer UCD SU Executive Election Poll are in, and they reveal some very interesting insights.
The position of President is the only contested race in this year’s sabbatical election, contested by current Education Officer Tia Cullen, current Campaigns & Engagement Officer Saskia McCormack-Eiffe and union outsider Michael Roche.
The latest poll conducted by the University Observer shows Roche leading in first preference votes at 62.9% to Tia Cullen’s 25.8%. In this poll, McCormack-Eiffe garnered fewer first preference votes than RON (Re-Open Nominations), polling at 4.8% and 6.5% respectively. There were a total of 248 valid votes cast in this race.
On second preference votes, Cullen leads the pack with 41.3%, followed next by RON at 25.7%, McCormack-Eiffe at 24.3% and finally Roche with 8.7%.
On third preference votes, McCormack-Eiffe picked up the most votes, collecting 47.9% of third preference votes, to RON’s 22.4%, Cullen’s 18.2% and Roche’s 11.5%.
This evidence shows that Roche has a significant lead in first preference votes, but is less transfer-friendly than Cullen and McCormack-Eiffe; an unsurprising analysis to be drawn considering the pair both currently serve in this year’s Students’ Union sabbatical team. His lead in first preference votes is commanding, and as such in this poll, has a clear lead regardless of the transfers from other candidates.
USI Referendum
The other hotly contested election is with regards to the referendum to rejoin USI. 243 valid votes were cast in the question about USI in the University Observer’s poll. 49.4% of voters voted ‘No’ to rejoining USI, 27% voted ‘Yes’, whilst 23.4% were ‘Undecided’ at time of voting.
Uncontested Sabbatical Races
In Education, Matt Mion has a comfortable lead against RON, securing 76.3% of the valid 215 votes cast in this race.
Emilia O’Hagan holds a similar lead against RON in the Welfare race, polling 76.6% of the 214 valid votes cast.
In Campaigns & Engagement, Hazen E. Griffin faces the highest number of RON votes against him when compared to the other candidates in other races. He still holds a commanding 73.4% of first preference votes however.
From 211 votes cast in the Entertainments (ENTS) race, Lily Gnojewski is currently polling at 76.3% against the alternative, Re-Open Nominations.
In the Graduate race, the fewest votes were cast of the six sabbatical positions, 207. Shreyansh Jagtap, according to this poll from the University Observer, is currently securing 75.8% of the vote over RON.
This poll was conducted by the University Observer via Google Forms from Monday 24th March at 9am until Friday 28th March at 5pm. QR codes to vote in this poll were displayed across campus, and shared to social media channels throughout the duration of the week.
The poll received 250 valid responses. It is worth noting that this poll is a small sample of voters, and does not try to predict the outcomes of the SU Executive Elections, in which more than 33,000 UCD students are eligible to vote.