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The MSU President is elected annually by the MSU membership as outlined by the procedures in the MSU Constitution and Bylaw 7. The elected candidate will hold office from May 1st to April 30th. The President may carry a course load of not more than three (3) units per academic term. This course load restriction may be waived by a two-thirds majority vote of the SRA.
The President is to serve as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Spokesperson for the McMaster Students Union and be a voting member of the SRA, the Executive Board, and an ex-officio member of all other MSU committees. As well, the President will chair the Executive Board, Board of Directors and the Presidents’ Council. Furthermore, the President will represent the MSU to the University Administration, Hamilton community as well as local, provincial, and national governments and organizations.
Important Dates:
Proclamation: November 29, 2024
Nomination Period: November 30, 2024 – January 16, 2025
All Candidates Meeting: January 16, 2025*
Campaigning Period: January 16 – 30, 2025
Polling Dates: January 28-30, 2025
*This meeting is mandatory in order to be considered eligible to run. If you cannot make this date, please contact the CRO to arrange another time.
Meet the Candidates: TBD
Presidential Debate: TBD
Important Documents:
Check back on November 29 to access documents related to the MSU Presidential election.
Results:
Click here to view the most recent Presidential election results.
A referendum of the general membership of the MSU may be called on a question of policy or any other matter, that may be held and voted on during the October By-Election, MSU Presidential Election, or SRA General Elections. It may result in the adoption of a new policy or fee increase.
There are different ways for a referendum to be called:
- A petition signed by three percent (3%) of the MSU membership delivered to the Vice-President (Administration);
- A resolution of the General Assembly;
- Or a majority vote of the total members of the SRA shall initiate a referendum.
All referenda called once the above conditions are met shall be administered by the Elections Committee, as outlined in their policies and bylaws.
Once a referendum has been called, and nominations have opened, students are able to put campaign teams together to advocate for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ side of the referendum.
The minimum number of ballots in a referendum must be equal to ten percent (10%) of the membership of the MSU for the results of the referendum to be a binding resolution on the SRA.
2025 Referenda:
This year the MSU will be sending three questions to referendum to be concurrent with the MSU Presidential Election:
Food Accessibility Initiative – The proposed Food Accessibility Initiative referendum was originally brought forward to the Student Representative Assembly at meeting SRA 23N – February 4, 2024 to run concurrently with the 2024 SRA General Elections. Unfortunately, the referendum did not receive the 10% minimum required to open the ballots. Bylaws dictate that the same referendum question cannot be brought back the following year, so the SRA voted to suspend that restriction for the Food Accessibility Initiative at SRA 24F – September 8, 2024. The proposal to increase the MSU Organization Fee by $6.50 was the brought forward to SRA 24K – November 17, 2024 and was passed by the SRA. You can find the supporting documentation here.
Homecoming & Large Events – The proposed Homecoming & Large Events referendum was brought forward to the Student Representative Assembly at meeting SRA 24K – November 17, 2024, to increase the MSU Operating Fee by $20. You can find the supporting documentation here.
McMaster Engineers without Borders (EWB) – EWB presented their budget to the Student Representative Assembly at meeting SRA 24J on November 6, 2024, you can find their documentation and recommendations here from the Finance Committee under ‘For Information – Delegations from the Floor’. The proposal to send their fee to Referendum was brought forward at SRA meeting 24K on November 17, 2024. You can find the memo from that meeting here.
You can find all the important dates and documentation below, starting on November 29, 2024. If you have questions about the procedures, please reach out to the Elections Department.
Important Dates:
Proclamation: November 29, 2024
Nomination Period: November 30, 2024 – January 16, 2025
All Candidates Meeting: January 16, 2025*
Campaigning Period: January 16 – 30, 2025
Polling Dates: January 28-30, 2025
*In order to be eligible to run a campaign side, it is mandatory to attend the All-Candidates meeting. If you cannot make this date, please contact the CRO to arrange another time or see if another campaign member can go in your place.
Important Documents:
Click here to access documents related to the MSU Referenda Sides.
Results:
SRA By-Elections may take place several times throughout the year, if spots on the SRA become available outside of the SRA General Election process. As such, these elections are run as needed to ensure that each caucus is fully filled.
You can find more information about SRA here
Important Dates:
Extended Nomination Timeline:
Proclamation: October 7, 2024
Nomination Period: October 7-25, 2024
All Candidates Meeting: October 25, 2024*
Campaigning Period: October 28 – October 31, 2024
Vote of Confidence Polling: October 30, 2024
Polling Date: October 31, 2024
Proclamation: October 7, 2024
Nomination Period: October 7-11, 2024
All Candidates Meeting: October 11, 2024*
Campaigning Period: October 21 – October 24, 2024
Vote of Confidence Polling: October 23, 2024
Polling Date: October 24, 2024
*This meeting is mandatory.
Important Documents:
Click here to access documents related to SRA By-elections
The following will be going to a Vote of Confidence on Wednesday, October 30:
Engineering
Laiba Yousafzai
The following will be going to a Vote of Confidence on Wednesday, October 23:
Nursing
Finn Chueng
Engineering
Minsub Kim
Jessica Ricafort
Avery Zeiler
The following will be going to an Election on Thursday, October 24:
Business (2 seats)
Sam El-Kadi
Instagram: @elkadi_sam
Liam Forbes
Colin Pyne
Humanities (one seat)
Yael Erlich
Azim Naqvi
Instagram: @vote4azim
Science (one seat)
Lauren Gottlieb
Julia Issa
Instagram: @julia4sra
Sambiro Kitawi
Instagram: @sambirokitawi
Facebook: sambirokitawi
Jordan Thor
Instagram: @itsjordanthor
Sameer Varma
John Vu
Instagram: @itsallaboutyourvoice
Facebook: It’s All About Your Voice
Results:
MSU First Year Council (FYC) is the unique representative body for McMaster first year students that serves to inform and speak for their distinctive needs and concerns. The council represents both current and future first year McMaster students, and ensures that their issues and interests are addressed by acting as a voice, and as a guiding body.
First Year Council Positions:
Chair — The primary spokesperson, liaison and advocate for the MSU First Year Council. This person will maintain relationships with other student/university organizations and oversee all FYC meetings. This person is responsible for reporting on the First Year Council to the SRA.
Vice-Chair (Internal) — acts as spokesperson for the organization and liaison between the First Year Council and the Residence Advisory Council. This individual will act as a primary lead on advocacy related to the living conditions and the students experience of first year students living on McMaster campus.
Vice-Chair (External) — acts as spokesperson for the organization and liaison between the First Year Council and the Faculty Society first year representatives. This individual will act as a primary lead on advocacy related to issues with respect to academic and off campus student experiences perspectives.
Vice-Chair (Events) —acts as a spokesperson for the organization and is the primary planner for events planned by the council. This Vice-Chair (Events) will work with MSU Spark, the MSU Maroons, MSU Campus Events and Residence Life to raise first year spirit within the school and improve the student experience at McMaster University.
Residence Chairs — will act as advocates for students in residence at McMaster University. They will be elected among their peers within their residence and will serve on a variety of Residence Life consultation committees. Further, residence chairs will be responsible for collecting feedback on the perspective of students in residence and running events within their particular building.
There are 13 positions available; one representative for each residence on campus as follows:
- Bates Chair
- Brandon Chair
- Edwards Chair
- Hedden Chair
- Les Prince Chair
- Mary E. Keyes Chair
- Matthews Chair
- McKay Chair
- Moulton Chair
- Peter George Chair
- Wallingford Chair
- Whidden Chair
- Woodstock Chair
Off-Campus/Commuting Students – There will also be two (2) seats for off-campus/commuting students available to run for. They will act as advocates for students living off-campus at McMaster University. They will be elected among their peers.
Please reach out to Elections if you have any questions about the procedures. Find out more about First Year Council here and here
Important Dates:
Extended Nominations Timeline (for Brandon and Moulton only):
Proclamation: September 3, 2024
Nomination Period: September 3 – 30, 2024
All Candidates Meeting: September 30, 2024*
Campaigning Period: October 1 – 10, 2024
Vote of Confidence Polling Date: October 3, 2024
Polling Date: October 10, 2024
*This meeting is mandatory.
Extended Nominations Timeline (for Brandon, Edwards, Moulton, Les Prince, and PGCLL only):
Proclamation: September 3, 2024
Nomination Period: September 3 – 23, 2024
All Candidates Meeting: September 23 2024*
Campaigning Period: September 24 – October 3, 2024
Vote of Confidence Polling Date: September 26, 2024
Polling Date: October 3, 2024
Proclamation: September 3, 2024
Nomination Period: September 3 – 16, 2024
All Candidates Meeting: September 16, 2024*
Campaigning Period: September 17 – 26, 2024
Vote of Confidence Polling Date: September 19, 2024
Polling Date: September 25 & 26, 2024
*This meeting is mandatory.
Important Documents:
Click here to access documents related to the FYC election.
The following Candidates will be sent to election on October 3, 2024!
Edwards:
Madeline Taylor
Ruaridh Dobson
Les Prince:
Omar Fouda
Radin Raeisi Sistani
PGCLL:
Maliaka Chaudry
Shreya Subramanian
The following Candidates will be sent to a vote of confidence (VoC) on September 19, or election on September 25 & 26, 2024!
Chair – Election
Darcy Lynn Boyd
Lubna Ismail
Joshua Kishner
Vice Chair Internal – Election
Krish Arora
Kobe Li
Ausaf Mirza
Vice Chair External – Election
Cianne Coutinho
Kuda Sithole
Vice Chair Events – Election
Sambhavi Dubey
Alice Liang
Bates – VoC
Patience Kieswetter
Hedden – Election
Areej Bhajikhara
Lucas Kozij
Mary Keyes – VoC
Snehal Jain
Matthews – VoC
Saad Hussain
McKay – VoC
Aditya Sharma
Wallingford – VoC
Shayla Karghosian
Whidden – VoC
Detavia Henry
Woodstock – VoC
Colin Pyne
Off-Campus – Election
Emma Baglione
Khaled Hajmousa
Arsh Khalid
Ameera Ali Khan
Results:
The Student Representative Assembly (SRA), the governing body of the MSU, is composed of 35 undergraduate students elected by their peers, inside each academic faculty. Together, they work to provide the best possible MSU services and departments, represent and address the concerns of undergraduate students, and lobby the University to improve McMaster’s academic quality. The MSU exists to represent students and to help build a better community for the undergraduate community.
Please note: There will be a mandatory training session held on March 23, 2024 for the incoming SRA members, with the time and location to be determined.
Important Dates:
2nd extension timeline:
Nomination Period: now until March 11, 2024
All Candidates Meeting: March 11, 2024*
Votes of Confidence Election: March 14, 2024
Campaigning Period: March 12-21, 2024
Polling Dates: March 21, 2024
*In order to be eligible to run, it is mandatory to attend the All-Candidates meeting.
Extended Nominations timeline:
Votes of Confidence Election: March 7, 2024
Campaigning Period: March 5 – 14, 2024
Polling Dates: March 14, 2024
Original Timeline:
Proclamation: February 5, 2024
Nomination Period: February 5 – February 26, 2023
All Candidates Meeting: February 26, 2024*
Votes of Confidence Election: February 29, 2024
Campaigning Period: February 27 – March 7, 2024
Polling Dates: March 6 & 7, 2024
*In order to be eligible to run, it is mandatory to attend the All-Candidates meeting.
Important Documents:
Click here to access documents related to the SRA General Election.
The following academic division will be going to an election March 14, 2024:
Business
Joshua Pickering
Meital Sogaokar
Due to unforseen circumstances, the following academic divisions will go to a vote of confidence on March 8, 2024:
Engineering
Daniel Benaich
Kinesiology
Isabella Bolca
The following academic division will be going to an election March 6 & 7, 2024:
Health Sciences
Elizaveta Kirichek
Larissa Long
Matthew Olejarz
Kerry Yang
There will be a run-off Election for the last seat for Health Sciences on Tuesday, March 12 between the following candidates:
Matthew Olejarz
Kerry Yang
The following academic divisions went to a vote of confidence on February 29, 2024:
Arts & Science
Rushan Jeyakumar
Business
Liam Forbes
Justin Huschilt
Aisha Mahmoud
Engineering
Jialiang (Kevin) Hu
Erion Keka
Yaseen Khan
Zachary McKay
Benita Okosagah
Humanities
Rachel Black
Grace Chan
Olivia Dodd
Science
Jazzlyn Abbott
Parth Arora
Isaac Begun
Joseph Newman
Fares Qannam
Subah Rahman
Jana Shakfa
Social Sciences
Simon Batusic
Kashish Modi
Zimo Wang
Results:
Click here to view the most recent SRA General Election results
The Vice-President & Speaker elections will take place on April 5 & 6, 2025 inside Council Chambers, Gilmore Hall room 111. Nominations are open now. If you wish to be considered for any VP or Speaker role, please email speaker@msu.mcmaster.ca by 9am on April 5 to declare your nomination. Also, be prepared to present to the Student Representative Assembly on April 5 and/or 6. VPs and the Speaker are elected directly by the members of the SRA.
Any MSU member (an undergraduate student enrolled in 18 or more units) is eligible to run for these seats. Elections are typically held the first weekend in April. Nominations will be opened at the first meeting in March, and will remain open until the elections occur. The SRA has adopted parameters to govern how the election will be run, you can find that information here.
Together with the MSU President, the Vice-President’s (Administration), (Finance), and (Education) comprise the MSU Board of Directors (BoD). The BoD has vast responsibilities within the organization and to the undergraduate students of McMaster University. Together, this team of four individuals are employed full-time for a year-long term, governing the daily operations of the McMaster Students Union. The role of Vice President is a full-time contract position. The successful candidate will start on May 1 with their contract concluding on April 30.
The election process gives each candidate the opportunity to speak to their qualifications and ideas and then Assembly members will have the ability to question the nominees. To learn more about the specific responsibilities of the Vice-Presidents Bylaw 4 – Board of Directors & Speaker. The Speaker is paid part-time over the course of an academic year to manage the bi-weekly meetings of the Student Representative Assembly.
If you would like to reach out to the 2024-25 SRA members to discuss your platform, you can reach out to the Speaker by emailing speaker@msu.mcmaster.ca.
The MSU Elections Department can hold online elections on behalf on faculty/program societies or student groups, using our Simply Voting platform. If you would like support in hosting and facilitating an election, email the elections department for more information.
Please note: The Elections Department will have the following blackout dates for external elections: September 27-28, October 21-25, 2024, November 18-22, 2024, January 13-30, 2025, February 24-March 7, 2025. Your request will not be honored if it’s during this date.
Please fill out this form and send back to the Chief Returning Officer if you are interested in holding an external election.
Are you interested in running for a position in the MSU but have no clue where to start? Start by following the steps below:
Step One: Nominate Yourself
This is the easiest step. Once the nomination period opens for your election, just download the nomination form respective to the election you are running in from the MSU Elections website and fill out the required information. Once complete, submit it to MSU Elections through email by sending it to elections@msu.mcmaster.ca before the nomination period ends.
Step Two: Read the Rules
Part of your nomination package will be the rules for your election that you (and your campaign team if you have one) have to follow as a candidate. A very important part of these rules is that you cannot campaign before the start of the campaign period. If you break the rules you could be fined so make sure you know them!
Step Two-and-a-Half: Assemble a Campaign Team (if applicable)
This is a half-step because not everyone uses or needs a campaign team. Most often candidates assemble them to help them out during the Presidential Election. This election can involve a lot of effort from the candidate to try to reach all MSU members, so a campaign team can be an invaluable resource. If you wish to assemble one, make sure that you register your campaign team members with the Elections Department, that your team knows the rules just as well as you do, and that no one campaigns before the campaign period!
Step Three: Attend the All-Candidates Meeting
This mandatory meeting happens the evening each nomination period closes and is where you will get information about your election, can meet your fellow candidates, and can ask any questions you have to the Chief and Deputy Returning Officers. (You might even find out that you’ve been acclaimed!)
Step Four: Campaign
There are many ways that you can campaign. The most common methods include posting posters, talking to classes, making a Facebook page, and talking to people around campus. You can also get creative with campaigning, just make sure you’re always following the rules!
Step Five: Get the Results
At the end of polling for an election, the Elections Committee will meet to discuss complaints against all of the candidates and to levy fines if they so decide, before anyone has found out the results. At the conclusion of the fines meeting the Elections Committee will view the results, the MSU will publicize them, and you will be notified of any fines that you have.
Step Five-and-a-Half: Appeal Your Fines
If you wish to fight your fine(s), you can submit an appeal to the Elections Department following the election and then make your case to the Elections Committee at their appeals meeting. If they decide not to accept your appeal, you have one more opportunity to appeal and that is to the Electoral Appeal Board.
Step Six: Relax
Whether or not you are successful, you deserve a break! And keep an eye out for the next MSU election around the corner.
Tips & Insight
Former MSU President, Mary Koziol created a guide on running in MSU elections, focusing on presidentials. This guide includes Mary’s insight as well as insight from other students who have participated in elections. Please click on the link below to view her handy guidebook on Issuu.
All elections held by the MSU use a secure online voting platform, called SimplyVoting. Visit SimplyVoting at any time and login with your MacID to see available elections.
Check often, as in addition to the elections of the MSU president and SRA members, many clubs and faculty societies utilize the election services of the MSU to host their own elections.
For detailed instructions including screen walkthroughs, please download the guidebook below:
To view past elections results, please click here.