Results from HYY’s Representative Council elections are in: Maailmanpyörä remains the largest alliance on the council
NEWS
The Representative Council elections of the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY) have ended and we have the result. Voter turnout in the elections was 32.74%, whereas the turnout in the previous elections in 2018 was 33.26%. The Representative Council elections were organised entirely electronically on 28–30 October and 2–4 November.
Due to the coronavirus, the elections were exceptional, and there was little election work conducted on campuses, for instance. Despite the situation, voter turnout was at the same level as in previous years. The drop in the number of candidates was also smaller than expected.
Maailmanpyörä the largest alliance and HELP the biggest winner
Maailmanpyörä emerged as the largest electoral alliance in the elections, just as it did in 2018. The alliance, consisting of HYY’s Greens, the Independent Left and the Social Democratic Students’ Association (OSY), netted 20 seats in the elections. HYY’s Greens got ten seats on the Representative Council, and the Independent Left achieved 9 seats. OSY returned to the Representative Council with one seat.
HELP and HYAL were the alliances to achieve the second-most seats after Maailmanpyörä. The groups, both of which have a background with subject organisations, got 12 seats on the council each. HELP, formed by subject organisations from veterinary medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, medicine and law, gained three seats, whereas HYAL, consisting of people active in organisations in several faculties, lost four seats.
The electoral coalition of student nations, Osakuntalaiset, retained its four seats on the Representative Council. Svenska Nationer och Ämnesföreningar, the coalition of Swedish-language nations and organisations which formed an electoral alliance with Osakuntalaiset in these elections, lost one seat, ending up with five representatives.
Out of the political groups, students of the National Coalition Party managed to increase their number of seats with two from the previous elections, getting six seats on the council. Centre Students Finland’s Keskeiset retained their one seat. The Liberal electoral coalition did not manage to get any of their candidates through, while other political groups had no candidates in the elections.
Top three vote-pullers
HYAL’s Jessika Isomeri received the most votes in the Representative Council elections, amassing 130 votes. The candidate to receive the second most votes in the elections was the Independent Left’s Jenny Kasongo with 122 votes, while the 97 votes of HELP’s Joonas Tolonen made him the third-most popular candidate among voters.
Jessika Isomeri first entered the council in the 2018 elections and has served on HYY’s Board this year. Kasongo and Tolonen were elected into the council as new members.
Slight drop in the candidate numbers of the elections
There were 490 candidates in six different electoral alliances competing in the 2020 Representative Council elections. Some of these alliances act as separate groups in the Representative Council. The groups participating in HYY’s elections have varying backgrounds: some are independent groups formed by people from subject organisations or student nations and some are political groups. There were 591 candidates in the previous Representative Council elections in 2018, which means that the drop in the number of candidates was clear but smaller than expected.
HYY’s Representative Council elections are held to elect the Student Union’s highest decision-making body, the 60-member Representative Council. All HYY’s members, around 26,000 students of the University of Helsinki, are eligible to vote in the elections. The Representative Council has the highest decision-making power in HYY, making decisions on issues such as the Student Union’s multimillion euro budget, its major policies on the organisations operating within the Student Union, the University and society, and the business direction of the company owned by the Student Union, Ylva. In addition to this, the Representative Council appoints HYY’s Board and chairs as well as the student members of the Board of the University of Helsinki. The elections are held every second year.
In case you want a closer look, the election result as well as the results of previous elections are available at vaalitulos.hyy.fi
Result of HYY’s Representative Council elections
The figure in parentheses denotes the change in the number of seats compared to the previous elections.
HELP: 12 (+3)
Maailmanpyörä: 20 (±0)
– HYYn Vihreät – De Gröna vid HUS – Helsinki University Greens: 10 (-1)
– Sitoutumaton Vasemmisto – Obunden Vänster – Independent Left: 9 (±0)
– Opiskelijoiden sosialidemokraattinen yhdistys: 1 (+1)
HYAL: 12 (-4)
Osakunnat & Svenska Nationer och Ämnesföreningar: 9 (-1)
– Osakunnat 1 & 2: 4 (±0)
– Svenska Nationer och Ämnesföreningar: 5 (-1)
Edistykselliset: 7 (+2)
– Kokoomuksen opiskelijat: 6 (+2)
– Keskeiset: 1 (±0)
Liberaalinen Vaaliliitto: 0 (±0)
Further information
Teemu Palkki
Election coordinator
050 449 7950
teemu.palkki@hyy.fi
Aaro Riitakorpi
Secretary general
0400 816 426
aaro.riitakorpi@hyy.fi
