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The voting period for the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) fall by-election was unexpectedly adjusted on Monday after the union announced “technical difficulties” with its online voting system.
Originally set to run from Monday at 10 a.m. to Wednesday at 5 p.m., voting restarted on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 10 a.m. and will now close on Thursday, Nov. 27, at 5 p.m.
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students who already cast their ballots on Monday were told (via the TMSU website) that they will need to vote again once the system reopens.
TMSU’s chief returning officer Ghallia Hashem, took to the student unions’ Instagram account to share an update with the changed voting period.
“While reviewing the voting system, we discovered that international students were able to select two candidates for the international student director position instead of the intended limit of one. This was a technical configuration error within the ballot setup,” Hashem said in a video uploaded to Instagram.
“As soon as this was brought to my attention, I paused voting and worked with the university to correct this issue. The ballot has now been fixed so that it accurately reflects the rules of the election.”
The TMSU’s Board of Governors previously annulled the April election following allegations of misconduct and procedural issues. The union was required to conduct a by-election during the fall semester.
With a total of 13 slates and 26 independent candidates, the abrupt change adds another layer of uncertainty to an already turbulent election cycle. Earlier this fall, a motion to postpone the 2025 by-election failed to receive the required two-thirds majority at a Sept. 29 special general meeting.
Hashem told On The Record in a Nov. 26 email that the TMSU does not expect the voting delay to have any effect on the results of the by-election.
“The three-day voting period was fully preserved; the timeline was simply shifted by one day to ensure that all members retained the same total voting window as per the EPC [Elections Procedures Code],” she wrote.
With the union already under scrutiny for mismanagement and internal instability, its attempts to repair its reputation are now being undermined by yet another disruption.
According to emails On The Record (and many others) received from an anonymous source “TMSU Saviour,” they alleged that vote-soliciting has already taken place in the library and the Podium buildings, with candidates approaching both TMU and non-TMU members. However, OTR reporters were not able to physically confirm these incidents. OTR and others have been on a mailing list from the “TMSU Saviour” since January 2025.
Under section 8.1.31 of TMSU’s Elections Procedures Code, the solicitation or receiving of endorsements by university administrators, businesses or TMSU vendors is forbidden, and “an individual who, solely on their own personal initiative and in line with their own personal views, attempts to solicit votes for or against a Candidate or Slate, is not a Campaign Team Member.”
More information about the election can be found on the TMSU website.
Jenna Gitlin is a fourth-year journalism student and reporter for On the Record, Fall 2025
No AI tools were used in the production of this piece.
