What is the Representative Council?

The Representative Council (also known as edustajisto or edari) is a group of ordinary university students who decides on the most important matters that concern the Student Union and all its members. The VYY Representative Council has 30 members. The council is elected once every two years in an election where any VYY member may enter as a candidate and vote. All members also have the right to come and observe the council’s meetings, which are held about once a month from September to May.

What difference can I make in the Representative Council?

The Representative Council decides on a variety of things, ranging from the membership fee amount, Student Union rules, action plan and budget to the election of the Board and choosing a Secretary General. The annual action plan directs the activities of the Board and staff, determining what the Student Union will use their resources on.

Who can enter the election as a candidate?

All VYY members who have registered as attending at the University of Vaasa and paid the Student Union membership fee! You can either start your own electoral coalition, join an existing electoral coalition or run as a non-partisan candidate. The choice is yours.

How do I enter the election as a candidate and what election documents do I need to fill out?

To enter the election as a candidate you must fill out the Declaration of Candidacy form. All election documents are available at the Student Union service office. If you have any questions concerning how to fill out the Declaration of Candidacy or any other documents, do not hesitate to contact the proxy of your electoral coalition or the Student Union staff. In fact, if you have any questions at all concerning the election in general, you can come visit the Student Union service office or send email to the staff.

What is a council group?

The Representative Council has 30 members. A majority of the members belong in a council group. Groups are usually formed by people with a common cause, such as a field of study or a political stance.

Who can create an electoral coalition?

Any VYY member can create an electoral coalition.

Why should I vote in the election?

Because the Student Union decision making is all about you! It is important that members use their right to vote because that is how we make the Student Union do the things that you and other members want it to do. The Representative Council election you can vote online, so even if you are not on campus or even in Vaasa during the election days you can still use your vote!

Follow the VYY social media channels and website and we will keep you informed of the election process in autumn 2023!

REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL ELECTION 2023 OF THE STUDENT UNION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VAASA

ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT*

*Translator’s note: the official election announcement (Vaalikuulutus) was given in Finnish on 21.8.2023. This document is a translation of the contents of the Finnish source text for the sake of accessibility, but is not official in the same capacity as the original Finnish document.

The representative council election of 2023 is held to elect 30 members and 30 deputy members to the representative council of the Student Union for a 2 year term that begins on 1.1.2024. 

Right to vote: All members of the Student Union who are enrolled as attending at the University of Vaasa, no later than 14 days before the first election day, have the right to vote in the representative council election. The right to vote can only be used personally. The right to vote is confirmed from the electoral register.

Electoral register: The electoral register lists the names of those who have the right to vote. The electoral register will be published on the Student Union’s official notice board by 12.00 on 10.10.2023. Any demands for changes to the electoral register must be delivered in writing to the Secretary General of the Student Union by 12.00 on 24.10.2023.

Candidacy: All eligible Student Union members may enter the election as a candidate. All Student Union members who have enrolled as attending at the University of Vaasa on the election year by 8.10.2023 at the latest are eligible for candidacy. In the election, eligible Student Union members may enter the election as candidates by themselves or with other eligible Student Union members.

Declaration of candidacy: To declare their candidacy in the election, an eligible member of the Student Union must deliver the required election documents (declaration of candidacy or declaration of electoral coalition with its declarations of candidacy or declaration of electoral ring with its declarations of electoral coalition and declarations of candidacy). The election documents are to be delivered to the Student Union office meeting room between 10.00–14.00 on 10.10.2023. The election documents can also be delivered to the Secretary General of the Student Union at other times or by e-mail by 14.00 on 10.10.2023 at the latest.
 
Eligible Student Union members can enter the election as a non-partisan candidate by filling out and signing the declaration of candidacy form and delivering it to the Central Election Board according to the Central Election Board instructions.

Candidates can form an electoral coalition together by filling out the declaration of electoral coalition form. The original declarations of candidacy must be included as attachments in the declaration of electoral coalition form

Two or more electoral coalitions can merge to form a new electoral coalition by filling out the declaration of electoral coalition merge. The original declarations of candidacy and declarations of electoral coalition must be included as attachments in the declaration of electoral coalition merge.

Non-partisan candidates and an electoral coalition or two or more electoral coalitions may form an electoral ring by filling out the declaration of electoral ring form. The original declarations of candidacy and declarations of the electoral coalition must be included as attachments in the declaration of the electoral ring. 

More information: Specific instructions for filling out the election documents are available at the Student Union office and on the Student Union website.

Election documents: Copies of the election document forms are available at the Student Union service office during opening hours from Tuesday 12.9.2023 at 10.00 onwards. The election document forms will also be available online on the Student Union website.

Combined candidate list: The combined candidate list is an exhaustive list of the election’s candidates and their candidate numbers. The combined candidate list will be published on the Student Union notice board by 12.00 on 17.10.2023.

Electioneering: The candidates may begin their electioneering after the combined candidate list has been published, which will be by 12.00 on 17.10.2023. The Central Election Board will give specific instructions on electioneering by 16.00 on 26.9.2023. The proxies are responsible for the electioneering activities of candidates in their electoral coalitions. All electioneering advertisement material must be removed from the campus area by 16.00 on 10.11.2023.

Early voting: The early voting days are 31.10. and 1.11.2023. The voting is open on both days between 8.00–18.00. The election is carried out with an electronic voting system.

Voting on election days: The election voting days are 7.11. and 8.11.2023. The voting is open on both days between 8.00–18.00. The election is carried out with an electronic voting system.

Official election result: The official election result is published on 8.11.2023 on the Student Union website.

Election regulations:* The election regulations are available on the Student Union website. Any questions regarding the election should be directed to the Central Election Board chair Elmo Nikula, the Secretary General of the Student Union or members of the Central Election Board.

*The election regulations are only available in Finnish (Vaalijärjestys).

Violations: Any violations of the election instructions given by the Central Election Board must be reported to the Central Election Board without delay. Violations should be reported as a written complaint to the Secretary General of the Student Union as soon as possible after the violation has been noticed, and before the election is over. 

Complaints regarding the Central Election Board: A member of the Student Union may lodge a complaint to the Student Union Board regarding the preparatory decisions, election process or activities of the Central Election Board. The Student Union Board must process and solve these complaints without delay. The complaints must be lodged in writing to the Secretary General of the Student Union at any time before the election is over. Complaints regarding the Central Election Board’s decision about the election results may be lodged to the Student Union Board within 14 days of the publishing of the election results. These complaints must be lodged in writing to the Secretary General of the Student Union by 12.00 on 22.11.2023 at the latest.

In Vaasa the 21st of August 2023

Elmo Nikula

Chair of the Central Election Board

Lauri Tuohiniemi

Secretary General of the Student Union

Additional information:

Secretary General Lauri Tuohiniemi, paasihteeri@vyy.fi, 044 324 8964

The Election announcement is available in PDF-format here.

The documents will be available on this page and from Service office starting from 12th of September 2023.

Instructions approved by Central election commission can be found below starting 12th of september 2023.

Instructions

Instructions to candidates
Instructions to proxies

Instructions on campaigning

Election forms

Declaration of candidacy
Declaration of electoral coalition
Declaration of electoral coalition merge
Declaration of electoral ring

Combined candidate list

The candidates for the Representative Council elections and the combined candidate list will be found here later in autumn 2023.

Combined candidate list and candidates of the 2023 Representative Council Elections.

Electoral coalitions

Voting advice application

You can change the language from the top right corner! Link to the Voting advice application can be found from below

Fill out the voting advice application and find your candidate!

The highest decision-making body of the Student Union of the University of Vaasa is a 30-member council, whose members are elected for a two year term. All VYY members have the right to vote in Representative Council elections, that is, all the university basic degree students as well as those exchange and post-graduate students who are registered as attending and have paid the Student Union fee.

The Representative Council determines the Student Union’s strategy as well as, among other things, the amount of the membership fee and the action plan. The Representative Council also appoints the Executive Board and chooses the Secretary General.

Meetings of the Representative Council are open to all VYY members and the Representative Council meets about once a month throughout the academic year.

Chairperson of the representative council

The chairperson of the representative council has the highest position of trust in the Student Union. Their duty is to lead the representative council meetings. In case you have questions about the council, please contact the Chairman of the Representative Council or the Secretary General.

The election is carried out with an electronic voting system. The voting days are 31.10.-1.12. and 7.-8.11.2023. The electronic voting system is open during the voting time, between 8-18 on every voting day.

To vote, you must log in using your univeristy login. 

Before you vote, please read the voting system instructions carefully.

If you have any questions regarding voting or the voting system, please contact VYY's Secretary General.

To vote in the Representative Council election, use the following link:

https://vaalit.trevea.fi/vyy/voting/login.do?lang=en

The results of the 2023 elections will be published on 8.11.2023. 

Results of the election can be found here.
 

The results of the 2021 elections can be found here.