The elections for the positions of the UCDSU sabbatical and college officer roles will take place online once again this year, from the 31st of March to the 1st of April.

The voting will take place from 9 am on the 31st of March until 9 pm on the 1st of April, following nominations opening on the 22nd of February. Hustings will take place one week before the opening of voting on March 25th.

UCDSU sabbatical elections fill the roles of SU President, Welfare, Campaigns, Education and Graduate Officers alongside the College Officers for the main schools in UCD.

Students who are interesting in voting will be required to register online again this year even if they have already registered in previous years.

These dates are a month earlier than the elections were last year having been delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past SU election, which was the first ever to be held online saw a drastic reduction in voting from more than 4,000 votes in 2019, to just 1,262 online votes in 2020.

Technical issues arose with UCD Students’ Union’s election voting system last year as users who opted to vote online through a link within Facebook or Instagram apps may not have successfully voted. This issue was resolved before the end of the voting period though may have left voters under the impressions that their votes had processed in certain cases.

Follow The College Tribune for full coverage of the 2021 SU Elections…

Hugh Dooley – News Editor