At the MU Faculty of Science, we have verified that our control mechanisms actually work, enabling us to keep elections fair and transparent. This time, the process of electing a member to the Student Chamber of the Faculty of Science’s Academic Senate passed a big test.
What happened?
During February this year, a vacancy arose in the Student Chamber of the Faculty of Science’s Academic Senate (Faculty of Science AS), which led to the announcement of a by-election (HERE). The voting itself was launched at the beginning of April. However, during the voting on 8 April 2025 and 10 April 2025, the Electoral and Mandate Committee of the Faculty of Science AS received identical complaints, requesting a review of whether, among other things, the conditions for the announcement of the by-election had been met.
How did the Commission approach the matter?
On the basis of these complaints, the Electoral and Mandate Committee immediately called a meeting and, after consulting with the faculty lawyer, concluded that both complaints were justified. Unfortunately, the conditions for calling a by-election had not been met, yet the by-election had already been called in February.
How did this happen?
Since the beginning of the current Senate’s term of office, two members of the Faculty of Science have been replaced, both senators having completed their studies and their mandate thus having expired. While potential replacements were offered their places, three of the replacements declined the call. Subsequently, when the by-elections were announced in February, the conditions set out in the MU Faculty of Science Electoral Regulations were misinterpreted, when the refusal of a substitute to be called was mistakenly considered a case of replacement of a Senate member, as provided for in Article 15(1)(d) of the MU Faculty of Science Electoral Regulations.
The conditions for the announcement of elections are regulated by Article 15 of Masaryk University’s Faculty of Science Academic Senate Election Regulations, which state, among other things:
A by-election for a given constituency shall be held if a vacancy occurs in the Senate and one of the following conditions applies:
(a) there is no substitute for the vacant seat of the Senate member,
(b) all the substitutes have declined the call,
(c) there has already been one replacement for a member of the Senate in the academic staff constituency,
(d) a member of the Senate has already been replaced five times in the student constituency.
The Electoral and Mandate Commission, in an effort to ensure that the situation was rectified and, at the same time, provide a clear and timely opinion, adopted without undue delay an order declaring the complaints of both complainants to be well-founded and thus the by-elections were invalid. Further, the Electoral and Mandate Committee requested that the President of the Faculty of Science AS cooperate in order to cancel the declaration of the by-election after expiry of the deadline for filing complaints.
The deadline for filing complaints according to Article 13 of the MU Faculty of Science Electoral Regulations expires on 22 April 2025. It can be assumed that the by-election for the MU Faculty of Science Student Chamber announced on 25 February 2025 by the AS President will then be cancelled.
So who will take the vacant seat?
After the aforementioned expiry of the deadline for filing a complaint and the subsequent cancellation of the by-election, a replacement from the regular election will be called. The alternate replacements shall be called in the order in which they stood in the election. According to Rule 18 of the Electoral Rules, the alternate replacement who does not decline to serve shall become the new member of the Senate.
What did we learn?
We would like to apologise in advance to all the voters and candidates who took part in the by-election and invested their energy and expectations into it. Lessons have been learnt by all involved and now all of these important procedural milestones will include professional consultation with a faculty attorney to ensure that the process is reviewed in accordance with the bylaws of the college and university. We are concerned that similar situations do not recur in the future and will do utmost to prevent it happening again.
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