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The Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) has delayed the release of its latest general election results while it investigates election complaints with officials.
“There are some very serious complaints which I am investigating. I am currently working with the TMSU lawyers, TMU administration, TMU security and possibly even Toronto police,” Tatiana Carrion, TMSU’s Chief Returning Officer (CRO), told OTR in an emailed statement Tuesday.
Dozens of candidates ran in the latest election, which was delayed at the last minute due to software issues, for positions ranging from president of the students’ union to faculty directors at the 2025 TMSU general election. Voting began March 10 at 10 a.m. and concluded at March 12 at 5 p.m.
On March 11, TMU posted a media release about an “incident” that took place at TMU’s library the previous day, where “offensive student election campaign materials” were distributed.
TMU received complaints and referred them to the university’s human rights services department, Toronto police, and TMSU’s CRO, according to the press release.
The university hasn’t elaborated on what the offensive campaign materials were, adding in the media release: “As this is an ongoing investigation, the university cannot comment further.”
On March 14, the TMSU’s election referenda committee (ERC) released a statement on their website about the delay in election results, writing that the CRO “has been working diligently” to review the election complaints to “ensure the integrity and fairness of our electoral process.”
The committee added that “a number of new complaints” had been lodged within 24 hours of the posting of the statement.
“It is important to have a final determination and adjudication of election complaints prior to finalizing the election outcome,” the statement reads.
While unofficial election results should be announced as soon as possible and within 48 hours of the end of the vote count as laid out in TMSU’s elections procedure code, the code allows for the ERC to delay the unofficial results with “reasonable cause.”
The ERC refers to this clause in the code as a reason for the delay in the results.
“We will release the official results once the outstanding investigations are complete, and all complaints have been fully adjudicated,” said the ERC. “We remain committed to maintaining transparency and will keep the student body updated on any developments.”
At this stage of the investigation, Carrion told OTR that she is in the process of gathering information from TMSU’s lawyers, TMU administration and TMU security.
“While everyone understands this matter is of extreme urgency, we are all trying to be thorough with our investigation and not rush into any decisions,” Carrion said.
Carrion and the ERC haven’t provided an exact timeline of when the election results will be released.
An election report must be produced by the CRO within two weeks of the conclusion of the election for ratification, according to section 11.4.1. of TMSU’s elections code.
Information regarding the nature of the complaints has not been released by the TMSU at this time.
This is an ongoing story that the OTR newsroom is still chasing, so expect updates as new information becomes available.
Vanessa Tiberio is a Toronto-based reporter with an interest in covering politics, current affairs and culture.
