Representative Council elections

• 12.9.2022 The candidate nomination process starts
• 9.10.2022 The candidate nomination process ends
• 13.10.2022 Candidates and election numbers will be announced
• 31.10.2022 Advance voting starts at 11.00 a.m.
• 8.11.2022 Advance voting ends at 15.00
• 9.11.2022 Official election day, voting starts at 8.00 and ends at 15.00
• 9.11.2022 Counting of votes
• 10.11.2022 Results will be published

The advance voting period is 31.10.2022 – 8.11.2022. The actual election day is 9.11.2022.

Voting is arranged by using Valpuri’s electronic voting system. During voting time, you will receive an email with a link which you have to use to vote for the candidate of your choice. The voting link will be sent to the email you have chosen when joining the student union. For those who have joined the student union after 2020, the email will automatically be the school’s email (ending edu.xamk.fi). If you cannot find the voting link in your email, please contact our Member Services Specialist (sauli.sarjus@opiskelijakuntakaakko.fi)

You can get acquainted with the candidates on the candidates page of the student union. In addition to this, you can listen to the candidates’ thoughts on the election panels organized by the student union and read the candidates’ election themes on Kaakko’s blog.

All members of the student union, who have paid the membership fee and who have registered as a present student, can stand as candidates. You don’t need to have any previous election experience. Standing as a candidate is free. Usually campaigning in the Representative Council elections is done without any financial investment, but it’s also possible if the candidate their-selves wishes to do so.

Becoming a candidate requires filling in the candidate form and submitting it to the student union Kaakko, the form can be made electronically or physically. The physical form can be returned to the student union office. You can stand as a non-attached candidate or as a member of an alliance.

You can find the candidate form and the form for establishing an electoral alliance in the links below or in the materials folder.

As a candidate, you can participate in election panels organized by the student union and you can write on the student union’s blog.

What does the candidate commit to?

The candidate commits to stay in the Representative Council for the duration of the Representative Council’s term of office, i.e. one calendar year. A member of the Representative Council is obliged to participate in all meetings of the Representative Council, which are held approximately 3-6 times during the year of operation. In addition, a member of the Representative Council must participate in various trainings, evening schools and meetings of representative council groups. Familiarizing yourself with the meeting materials, i.e. the agenda and its attachments, is essential for good and smooth work in the Representative Council.

One of the most important tasks of a Representative Cuncil member is to express their own and the voters opinions during the meetings.

WhatsApp group for the candidates

Candidates and those interested in standing to be a candidate can join a WhatsApp group organized by Kaakko. The group shares up-to-date information related to the Representative Council elections and allows you to discuss with other candidates. You can join the group via this link.

The form for establishing an electoral alliance authorises one candidate to act as a representative of the electoral alliance. The representative of the electoral alliance must submit the formation form before the time to stand to be a candidate ends. A candidate may be founding and belong to only one electoral alliance.

The representative of the electoral alliance is responsible for supplementing the electoral alliance with new candidates. The candidates of the electoral alliance can be supplemented with a supplementary notification form. The representative of the electoral alliance can supplement the candidates themselves through the supplementary notification form, or instruct the candidates to fill in the form themselves.

It is possible for two or more candidates to form an electoral alliance. The name of the electoral alliance and symbol (slogan) are entered in the notice of establishment of the electoral alliance and the names of the candidates are listed in the order in which they are wanted on the electoral roll. It is possible to supplement the list of candidates of the electoral alliance through the supplementary notification form.

How does an electoral alliance work?

The comparative figures of the candidates belonging to an electoral alliance are calculated on the basis of the total number of votes cast for the candidates in that electoral alliance. The person with the most votes in each electoral alliance gets the total number of votes cast for all the candidates in the electoral alliance as a comparison figure. The comparative figure for those who have collected the second most votes in electoral alliances is the total number of votes cast for the electoral alliance divided by two. The comparative figure for those with the third most votes is the total number of votes cast for an electoral alliance divided by three, and so on.

The comparison figure for individual candidates who do not belong to electoral alliances is their own personal number of votes.

The benefit of the electoral alliance for the candidate

Candidates belonging to an electoral alliance benefit from the votes of other candidates belonging to the electoral alliance, while individual candidates who are not members of the electoral alliance (non-attached) must collect all votes themselves. A candidate belonging to an electoral alliance may be elected with a smaller number of personal votes than a single (non-attached) candidate who is not a member of the electoral alliance.

A non-attached person is a candidate or representative who is not committed to any electoral alliance. Non-attached members do not automatically form a list of non-attached members. If the Non-attached Members want their own list, they must create an electoral alliance for the Non-attached.

A non-attached member should remember that they do not have a deputy representative at a representative council meeting. If a non-attached member registers as absent from a representative council meeting, they will be replaced by a deputy with the highest comparison figure. In this case, the deputy may be, for example, a representative of an electoral alliance, in which case the electoral alliance will receive more representatives and votes to be used for the meeting.

According to the rules of the student union, electoral alliances must have one person to be responsible and deputy responsible of the representative council group. The electoral alliance elects the person responsible and the deputy responsible from its members, if the electoral alliance has not defined these by the time of the first meeting, the President of the Representative Council invites the persons who have received the largest number of personal votes to be the responsibles of the Representative Council group.

Duties of those responsible for the Representative Council Group

1. The task of those responsible for the Representative Council group is to ensure that the representatives of their own electoral alliance participate in the Representative Council meeting. If a full member of the electoral alliance is unable to attend the meeting, he or she must notify the person in charge of the Representative Council group of this, who will ensure that the deputy is aware of the participation in the meeting.
2. Make a discussion channel for your own electoral alliance, e.g. WhatsApp group, etc. It is a good idea for the electoral alliance to hold discussions before the meeting and during the meeting on what issues the electoral alliance wants to promote in the Representative Council.
3. Have discussions with those in other representative council groups. In democratic decision-making, cooperation pays off, and those responsible should look for other electoral alliances that pursue the same issues as their own electoral alliance. Electoral alliances that have cooperated in a voting situation have a bigger chance of getting what they want through.

The Representative Council meets at least three times during its term of office, for an organizing meeting, a spring meeting and an autumn meeting. In addition to the mandatory meetings, the Representative Council meets if the Representative Council so decides or the Board deems it necessary. Representative Council meetings will be held remotely in Teams and it’s also possible to attend at campuses.

The meetings of the Representative Council can be followed live, from your own computer.