Voting in the BARS 2025 Elections concluded on Monday. The returning officers, Matthew Sangster and Mary Fairclough, have checked and validated the ballots and are now pleased to announce the results.
We received 47 ballots, 44 of which were determined to be valid. One ballot was submitted by someone who is not a current member of BARS; this was ineligible. One member submitted their ballot twice: the later submission was included and the earlier discounted. One ballot was received after the deadline; this was discounted.
The votes for the various officer positions were as follows:
Vice President
- Jennie Orr – 43
- Abstain – 1
Jennie Orr is re-elected as Vice President.
Secretary
- Andrew McInnes – 42
- Reopen Nominations – 2
Andrew McInnes is re-elected as Secretary.
Membership Secretary
- Yimon Lo – 44
Yimon Lo is re-elected as Membership Secretary.
Communications Officer
- Amy Wilcockson – 43
- Abstain – 1
Amy Wilcockson is re-elected as Communications Officer.
Bursaries Officer
- Gerard McKeever – 42
- Reopen Nominations – 2
Gerard McKeever is re-elected as Bursaries Officer.
International Officer
This was the first election contested by more than two candidates since BARS moved to the current elections system. As a consequence, the Exec consulted on the most appropriate method and determined to use a transferrable vote system in which first preference votes are tallied initially, and then the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, with their votes transferring to voters’ next preferences until a clear winner emerges.
First Round
- Serena Qihui Pei – 13
- Silvia Riccardi – 4
- Millie Schurch – 10
- Patrick Vincent – 16
- Abstain – 1
Second Round
- Serena Qihui Pei – 13
- Millie Schurch – 13
- Patrick Vincent – 17
- Abstain – 1
In this case, two candidates drew for second place in the second round, resolving the election in favour of the candidate in first place at that point. Consequently, Patrick Vincent is elected as International Officer. This was a very close election, and we’d like to thank all the candidates for standing. It’s clear that all four impressed the membership with their statements, and we hope that those not elected on this occasion will consider standing again for Executive roles in the future.
Successful candidates in these elections will serve two-year terms. BARS’ next round of elections will be in 2026.