SA’s future politicians caught up in student election integrity breaches with results overturned
One candidate was allegedly told to “hang himself” and an entire group disqualified as part of the prestigious university’s student elections.
SA News
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University of Adelaide student elections have been marred by fraud allegations, and police being called when one candidate told another to “hang himself.”
Thirteen of 18 leadership victories for its student union – named YouX – were voided on Thursday after students claimed they were “coerced” into voting.
The prestigious elections, held in August, have launched the political careers of former PM Julia Gillard and Premier Peter Malinauskas.
A tribunal led by law school professor Dr David Plater overturned those results, finding in its report “there is sufficient risk that the integrity of the election has been compromised”.
According to a sworn statement by student Edward Archer, Socialist Alternative’s Ramon O’Donnell told him “do me a favour, go home and hang yourself” during a political debate on August 30.
Jayden Squire alleged Mr O’Donnell called him a “racist Liberal” on that same day and “the conversation diverged to... him lunging towards me and threatening to punch my face”.
Mr O’Donnell helped organise May’s Gaza solidarity sleepout, and candidates told The Advertiser that events in the middle east had fuelled tensions.
SA Police confirmed officers attended the campus but identified no offences.
Mr O’Donnell did not respond to the complaints and was disqualified, but described them as “a self-serving lie”.
“I was harassed and bullied by them for several hours, including being followed around by a crowd and yelled at through a megaphone,” he told The Advertiser.
“At a certain point, I snapped at them and told them to back off, but I deny making any threats.”
Mr Archer and Mr Squire said megaphones were used by both sides but Mr O’Donnell was not singled out.
Separately, Dr Plater said there was “sufficient reasonable possibility that a not insignificant number of students had votes cast on their behalf, without their consent or... without their own independent consideration”.
Based on five testimonies, he found Progress party campaigner Xinxin Ke encouraged students to relinquish their phones so she could cast their online votes.
According to one person: “There was a Chinese guy and Chinese woman sneaking around in the classroom, and asking me and my friends to scan the QR code”.
“After scanning the code the girl just grabbed the phone and selected all the votes for me and even voted for me. Therefore I have no idea who I have voted for.”
An invitee to a Chinese Students’ Association ‘games night’ also claimed attendees were told they had to vote before participating.
Ms Ke, who is a committee member but did not attend, would not comment.
Progress student union president Merlin Wang said he accepted the first complaint, but did not sanction the behaviour and it was unfair the entire group was penalised.
He said the second complaint was based on one report without further substantiating evidence.
A YouX spokesman said he was “unaware of any previous elections where this number of results have been voided” and the findings will be reviewed.
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