The race to elect the President of the University of Bahr el Ghazal Students Union is set to be repeated after the two candidates clinched the same number of votes during the polls on Tuesday.
The contestants, William Wol Wek and Anin Mou Anin faced off in the election superintended by the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Nixon Jackson which saw them both garner 20 votes a piece out of the 40 from students’ representatives from the 40 main colleges.
Addressing the crowd of students who were waiting for the results, the chairperson of the election commission, David Akok, said that since there was a tie, the constitution mandates that there be a rerun. He promised to announce the date for the new elections in two days.
“We counted the results of William Wol Wek and he scored 20 out of 40 and we counted those of Anin Mou Anin who also had 20 out of 40 and in terms of percentages, they both had 50 percent which means it is a draw,” he said. “According to our constitution under Article 67 which talks about the rerun of elections, it automatically directs us that these elections have to be rerun. I am calling upon the Students General Assembly to bear with us as our constitution does not compromise.”
Akok added: “Article 67 (1) said if the candidates in the elections tally draws, the chairperson of the elections shall declare a rerun of the elections within five days.”
On his part, the University Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Jackson, said the Student’s Union constitution will be followed and that there will be a rerun of the elections.
“We are going to follow the constitution of the students which says that the elections will be rerun,” he asserted.
Both candidates campaigned on the platform of addressing students’ grievances and promised to tackle the poor campus environment, feeding, unity of the students, and arbitrary detention of students close to examinations among other issues.