Friday 9 October

End of the 2026 UMSU Elections

With the results of the UMSU International by-election confirmed, the 2026 UMSU elections have now officially concluded. Thank you all for joining us over the last few weeks, and please stay with us for future coverage, including for the next session of Student Council, due to be held next week!

6:15 PM

Presidential by-election results

The full counts for the UMSU International by-election can now be found on the UMSU Elections website. For the presidential race, 675 valid votes were cast, with Gulati winning 317 primary votes. 637 votes were counted in the second round of voting, with a ballot exhaustion rate of 5.63 per cent.

First Round

Satvik Gulati: 46.96%

Declan Lee: 16.00%

Raiesa Khutel: 14.07%

Jhanvi Raghav: 12.74%

Denise Lim: 10.22%

​

Second Round

Satvik Gulati: 50.86%

Declan Lee: 19.15%

Raiesa Khutel: 15.86%

Jhanvi Raghav: 14.13%

​

6:00 PM

Sakshi Sharma wins Education Director by-election

In the Education Director by-election, candidate Sakshi Sharma has defeated opponent Dhanvi Sharma in a head-to-head contest. Sakshi Sharma defeated Dhanvi Sharma 57 per cent to 43 per cent.

5:30 PM

Gulati wins UMSU International presidential by-election

Community candidate Satvik Gulati has won the UMSU International presidential by-election, winning a landslide result over a crowded field of independent opponents. In the first round, Gulati got 47 per cent of the primary vote, with a 31 per cent lead over second place candidate Declan Lee, at 16 per cent. All three of their opponents came within 6 per cent of Lee's primary vote. Gulati won in the second round with 51 per cent, defeating Lee by 32 per cent. 

5:05 PM

Voting closes

Voting has now closed in the UMSU International by-election. In the Media and Marketing Director election, candidate Anshika Batra has been elected unopposed, while in the Education Director election, candidates Sakshi Sharma and Dhanvi Sharma will face off against each other. Four independent candidates and one Community candidate are contesting the presidential election, which will be the most closely watched race by observers.

4:15 PM

Campaign bans issued

The Returning Officer has issued a series of campaign bans against candidates and campaigners in the UMSU International by-election. Community candidate Satvik Gulati and all affiliated campaigners have been banned indefinitely, until further information is provided to the Returning Officer about electoral regulation breaches by a registered campaigner. All campaigners for Jhanvi Raghav have been banned over breaches by a campaigner, although Raghav herself has not been banned. One campaigner for Declan Lee was also banned over a report of a non-registered campaigner campaigning for Lee, although this ban has since lapsed.

4:00 PM

Amendment to previous article

A previous post regarding the political alignments of candidates in the UMSU International presidential by-election has been amended, at the recommendation of the Returning Officer. Please refer to the updated post here.

10:45 AM

Flashback to the UMSU annual election!

With the UMSU annual election mentioned, let's take a look back at the Education (Academic) OB race in the election. The results for the race were as follows:

Primary Vote

Together: 49.57% (+20.76%)

Community: 43.63% (+3.78%)

Progress: 6.80% (NEW)

Two-Candidate Preferred

Together: 53.42% (+10.01%)

Community: 46.58% (-10.01%)

TOGETHER GAIN FROM COMMUNITY

Notably, in the Education (Academic) race, Community candidates Gulati and Verma outperformed the top of the ticket by 2.84 per cent on the primary vote, and 3.41 per cent in a head-to-head race with Together, per a two-candidate preferred estimate for the presidential race.

Gulati and Verma achieved the same two-candidate preferred result as General Secretary candidate Afanasyev, also getting 67 more raw votes than presidential candidate Motika, despite a lower turnout race. During the election, Motika was among the worst performing Community candidates, and appeared to have dragged down the ballot, including for the Education (Academic) race.

10:15 AM

Alignments of candidates

Farrago has composed a full list of the candidates in the UMSU International presidential by-election, and their associations with UMSU's political tickets. The candidates in the race are as follows:

Satvik Gulati (Community)

Xing Ying Denise Lim (Independent)*

Raiesa Khutel (Independent)*

Jhanvi Raghav (Independent)*

Declan Benedictus Lee (Independent)

Reports received by Farrago suggest that prior to the election, Together had expressed an intention to back Khutel and Raghav, although the nature of their relationship with Together is unclear. Farrago has also received reports from independent and Together sources that Community has backed Lim, in addition to Gulati, but no further information has been provided to substantiate this claim.

Gulati is the only candidate in the race to be formally affiliated with a political ticket, although the race is non-partisan. Gulati was one of Community's two candidates for Education (Academic Affairs) OB in the September UMSU annual election.

10:00 PM

Election interference by non-international students

Multiple cases of domestic students campaigning in the UMSU International by-election have been reported to Farrago, in a concerning pattern of election interference by non-international students. Farrago has been made aware of multiple alleged cases of Community members campaigning in the election, although no cases of Together members participating have yet been reported.

Earlier today, Farrago spoke to Returning Officer Stephen Luntz, who stated that he had received two complaints about domestic students participating in the by-election. In one case, a student had been warned, while Luntz had yet to investigate a second report.

4:15 PM

UMSU proxy war bleeds into UMSU International

UMSU’s political proxy war between Together and Community has bled into UMSU International, amid a hotly contested by-election between five presidential candidates. The positions of UMSU International President, Education Director, and Media and Marketing Director are up for grabs, with polls open until 5:00pm tomorrow. The presidential and Education Director races are contested.

While elections in UMSU International are non-partisan, with candidates not running under political tickets, Farrago understands that both Community and Together have backed candidates in the presidential by-election, with both tickets reportedly backing two candidates each.

1:00 PM

Together passes first post-election test

In Monday's Clubs & Societies Committee election, anti-Community candidates won a majority on the Clubs & Societies Committee, in a scathing rejection of the outgoing Community administration. The 2027 Clubs & Societies Committee will comprise two Together-aligned members, two Community-aligned members, and three independents—when grouped by their political leanings, the Committee will comprise four anti-Community members, two Community-aligned members, and one neutral.

While all Community and Together-backed candidates were successfully elected, Together-aligned candidate Roger Cao won first place, while both Community-backed candidates fell to the sixth and seventh places, squeezing out incumbent Committee Member Joshua Solomon, in part due to affirmative action. With a pathway to a working majority through independents Khadija Faisal and Max Fitzpatrick, Together has thus passed its first major test since the September elections with flying colours, in a major win for President-elect Lottie Jenkins and General Secretary-elect Khush Shah. 

3:55 PM

Returning Officer announces results

Returning Officer Stephen Luntz has announced the final candidates elected. Jeffrey Jing, Together-aligned candidate Shriyans Maddikunta, and Community-aligned candidates Phoebe Adams and Clarissa Sothy have been elected. Next year's Clubs & Societies Committee will comprise the following members, in order of election:

Yifan (Roger) Cao (Arknights Enthusiast Club, Together)

Khadija Faisal (Pakistani Society, Independent)

Max McKenzie Fitzpatrick (Pirates, Independent)

Shriyans Maddikunta (Chocolate Lovers Society, Together)

Lei (Jeffrey) Jing (Hanfu Association, Independent)

Phoebe Adams (Reels Club, Community)

Clarissa Sothy (Queer Commerce Club, Community)

3:05 PM

Clubs & Societies Committee candidates elected

Returning Officer Stephen Luntz has announced that three candidates have already reached the quota, and have been elected. Together-aligned candidate Roger Cao, ex-More! candidate Max Fitzpatrick and Community dissident Khadija Faisal have been elected.

3:00 PM

Returning Officer announces turnout

Returning Officer Stephen Luntz has announced the turnout figures for the election, with 104 total voters. Four ballots were informal, amounting to a total of 100 valid votes. The quota for a candidate to be elected is 12.5 votes.

2:45 PM

Counting begins

Counting has now begun, with votes being counted by hand. Niche! A small number of attendees of the Club Council are scrutineering.

2:25 PM

Candidates depart from the stage

Question time is now over, with candidates departing from the stage. Clubs & Societies OB Alex Gwynn is now back on stage with fellow OB Seamus Donnellan, where Gwynn is speaking on policy updates.

2:16 PM

Candidates asked about attendance

Candidates were asked by audience member Tarish Kumar about whether they had actually attended a committee meeting. Four of the ten candidates put their hands up.

2:14 PM

Returning Officer thanks audience for staying

Returning Officer Stephen Luntz has thanked members of the audience for staying after the sudden departure of audience members at 2:00.

"Thank you for staying when all of them left," Luntz said.

"All of them..."

2:10 PM

Candidates asked about something other than stacking

In a shock to the audience, candidates were asked by audience member Natalie Ryan what serving on the Clubs & Societies Committee would actually entail, and what elected members of it would actually do with their position. Candidates are currently speaking on something other than stacking. Yay.

2:00 PM

Market Hall empties

With the clock hitting 2:00, Market Hall has emptied out, with less than half of the audience leaving suddenly, after they were told that they could vote early. While most seats in the room were packed when the meeting was opened, more than half of seats are now vacant.

1:45 PM

Candidates identify current and former political affiliations

Candidates were asked by a member of the audience about their political affiliations. Here are the candidates who identified having current and former political affiliations:

Nikolai Zarubin (Progress)

Yifan (Roger) Cao (Together)

Max McKenzie Fitzpatrick (Ex-More!)

Clarissa Sothy (Community)

Pheobe Adams (Community)

Shriyans Maddikunta (Together)

Joshua Solomon (Better, Independent)

Khadija Faisal (Ex-Community)

Candidate Phoebe Adams said that she has spoken out against her ticket, while candidates Nikolai Zarubin and Joshua Solomon spoke about their independent credentials. Some members of Progress are members of the Melbourne University Liberal Club, which was pointed out by Fitzpatrick.

1:42 PM

Who's running in the election?

10 candidates are running in the election. For those interested, here's a list of who is running:

Nikolai Zarubin (Slavic Languages Society)

Yifan (Roger) Cao (Arknights Enthusiast Club)

Max McKenzie Fitzpatrick (PIrates)

Johnston Burke (Philosophy Society)

Clarissa Sothy (Queer Commerce Club)

Phoebe Adams (Reels Club)

Shriyans Maddikunta (Chocolate Lovers Society)

Lei (Jeffrey) Jing (Hanfu Association)

Joshua Solomon (Society for Transportation Enthusiasts at Melbourne)

Khadija Faisal (Pakistani Society)

1:34 PM

Question time begins

Returning Officer Stephen Luntz has opened the floor for members of the audience to ask candidates questions.

1:19 PM

Community dissident speaks out against former ticket

Khadija Faisal, candidate from the Pakistani Society, spoke out against Community, urging voters to vote against stacking. Faisal was the former Community candidate for Clubs & Societies OB, but withdrew her candidacy suddenly before the election. In her speech, Faisal revealed the reason for her split with Community.

"I ended up withdrawing because my ticket's vision didn't exactly align with mine, so I want to bring that vision to my committee instead," Faisal said.

"Clubs belong to members."

1:18 PM

Candidates take aim at Community

Candidates for the Clubs & Societies Committee election are currently speaking on stage. Candidates have taken aim at Community, speaking out against stacking. Candidate Max Fitzpatrick delivered a passionate speech criticising Community, and urging voters to vote against pro-Community candidates.

"We've actually got a few of them in the room today, and they're from Community [...] Do not give into the scourge that is Community." Fitzpatrick said.

Candidate Shriyans Maddikunta also delivered a speech criticising stacking, saying that clubs should operate "not for political purposes [and] not for stacking."

1:06 PM

Returning Officer opens up election

Returning Officer Stephen Luntz has opened up the Clubs & Societies Committee election, announcing the 10 candidates running in the election. Luntz prompted laughter from the audience after mispronouncing the Reels Club as "rills".

1:02 PM

Clubs & Societies OB-elect addresses Club Council

Clubs & Societies OB-elect Leon Nguyen van Tri spoke on stage to the Clubs Council, outlining his vision for the Clubs & Societies department in 2027.

1:00 PM

Clubs & Societies looking at club stacking

Clubs & Societies OB Alex Gwynn told attendees of the Clubs Council that the Clubs & Societies department was currently looking at club stacking, requesting feedback from clubs on addressing stacking, and protecting clubs from political tickets "gaining an endorsement when it comes to election time."

12:58 PM

Donnellan takes aim at 'non-independents'

In his OB Report speech, Clubs & Societies OB Seamus Donnellan took aim at 'non-independents', urging voters to instead vote for independent candidates.

"Vote for the independents [...] the people that are in it for the right reasons," Donnellan told voters.

Candidates in the election are elected based on club affiliations, rather than political affiliations, but a small number of Community and Together members are present.

12:37 PM

Luntz appointed as Returning Officer

Stephen Luntz, who was the Returning Officer for the 2026 UMSU annual election, has been appointed as the Returning Officer for the Clubs & Societies Committee election.

12:29 PM

Clubs & Societies OBs open meeting

Clubs & Societies OB Alex Gwynn has opened up today's session of Club Council. Gwynn is currently speaking on stage, standing alongside fellow OB Seamus Donnellan.

12:25 PM

Turnout unusually high

Turnout in today's Clubs & Societies Committee election appears to be unusually high, according to some observers. As of 12:25, people are still queueing to register for the election. Among the crowd are a small contingent of Community and Together members.

12:00 PM

Clubs & Societies to hold committee election 

In today's semester 2 Clubs Council, the Clubs & Societies department will hold its annual Clubs & Societies Committee election. Seven representative positions are up for grabs in an in-person election contested between clubs, rather than political tickets. Scheduled for 12:00pm, turnout for the election appears to be high.

5:00 PM

Motika not disqualified for President

Correction to a previous post: General Secretary Daniel Motika and Education OB Corbin Afanasyev were not disqualified for President and General Secretary. BigPulse currently shows the presidential and General Secretary races as head-to-head contests between Together and Progress, but this is an error. Reportedly, Motika and Afanasyev were not disqualified for President and General Secretary as they did not win these races.

In the alternate counts currently shown by BigPulse, President-elect Lottie Jenkins and General Secretary-elect Khush Shah are shown defeating their Progress counterparts with 85 per cent of the primary vote, and 83 per cent respectively.

3:30 PM

Afanasyev responds to Tribunal ruling

Community's General Secretary candidate at the election, Education OB Corbin Afanasyev, has responded to his ban and disqualification. In a statement given to Farrago, and published on social media, Afanasyev said the following:

"I'm truly gutted that my lifelong dream of running for an unwinnable Students' Council spot in the final year of my degree has been torn from my grasp."

Farrago has also reached out to General Secretary Daniel Motika, but has not received a response.

12:30 PM

Community 'attendance-mogged', says Together member 

A member of Together who was present at the Council as an observer told Farrago that Community was "attendance-mogged". During Council, Together members overwhelmed the empty Community bench in attendance numbers.

11:45 AM

Council inquorate

Today's session of Student Council failed to reach quorum after Community's Council members did not turn up. While Council was scheduled for 11:00am, the time to reach quorum lapsed at 11:30am. Laptops were initially placed on Community's side of the Council, but were removed shortly after. General Secretary Daniel Motika told Farrago that the laptops were removed as it became clear that quorum would not be reached. Non-voting members of Together gathered at Council to observe, with the opposition's side of the room completely packed.

10:45 AM

Motika disqualified, banned 

In last week's meeting of the Electoral Tribunal, the Tribunal banned and disqualified Community's presidential candidate Daniel Motika and General Secretary candidate Corbin Afanasyev. Afanasyev received a one-year ban, while Motika received a two-year ban. The two candidates were disqualified for NUS.

10:30 AM

BREAKING: Community attempted to overturn election

Last week, Community launched an appeal to overturn the 2026 UMSU annual election, Farrago has learned. At a meeting of the Electoral Tribunal on Wednesday 23 September, Community appealed to overturn the results of the elections, citing unsubstantiated claims of "serious misconduct" by Returning Officer Stephen Luntz. The appeal was struck down by the Electoral Tribunal.

Monday 28 September

Student Council called for Wednesday

A session of Student Council has been called for Wednesday 30 September, Farrago has learned. This session of Student Council will mark the first Council since the election.

Tuesday 22 September

Fabian Society congratulates Jenkins

In a statement published on social media on Sunday, the Australian Fabian Society congratulated UMSU President-elect Lottie Jenkins on her election victory, along with La Trobe Student Union President-elect Maali Kerta-Rice. Jenkins and Kerta-Rice were participants in the 2025-26 Fabian Leadership Summer School.

"Congratulations Lottie Jenkins and Maali-Kerta-Rice, recently elected Student Union President respectively at the University of Melbourne and LaTrobe University. Natural leaders before we worked together, they were also participants in our in our 2025-26 Fabian Leadership Summer School [...] Well done also to the teams you led, Together for UMSU and Together 4 LTSU."

Update from the author

Good evening UniMelb, more than a week after the 2026 UMSU elections, we are coming back from a vacation from student politics to talk about... student politics. Join Farrago as we keep you in the loop about the latest post-election events which are expected rock UMSU student politics over the next few weeks.

Wednesday 16 September

Together sweeps committees

With counting for multi-member positions now complete, Together's legislative mandate has now been confirmed. Together has won a 5-2 majority on the Queer Committee, and 4-3 majorities on Activities, Welfare, Disabilities, People of Colour, and Women's. Both Together and Community won three seats in three committees, and will need to work with minor tickets occupying the seventh seat in order to pass their legislative agenda. Socialist Action won one on the Education Committee, one for the Independent Artists Co-operative on Creative Arts, and one for the Independent Students for Sustainability on Environment.

Returning Officer releases provisional results

The Returning Officer has completed counting, and the full declaration of results has now been published. A full distribution of preferences for multi-member positions has also been released.

Tuesday 15 September

UMSU set for a hung council 

UMSU is set to see its first hung Council in years, despite a thumping majority for Together at the executive level. In the Student Council election, Together won the largest share of the vote at 39 per cent, while Community won 34 per cent of the vote. Together is currently projected to win six seats, amounting to a total of nine, when factoring in reserved constituency seats. Community is projected to win five seats, with a total of eight. A ticket would require 11 seats in the 22-seat Council to form a working majority.

On the crossbench, Independent Media has retained its one seat, while Independents for Southbank has also held its seat reserved for Southbank students. Socialist Action will hold the balance of power in the Council, with it projected to win 3 seats, with the third currently in contention. Socialist Action won 17 per cent of the vote share in Student Council. While Socialist Action has a coalition agreement with Community, whether this will last into the next Council is unclear.

Sunday 13 September

Together releases first post-election statement

Together has released its first public statement since its landslide election win on Friday. In a post published on Instagram today, the ticket issued a statement thanking volunteers and voters.

"Thank you. Together, we have built something incredible. There'll be time in the coming weeks (once we've all gotten some sleep!) to talk about how much this means. For now though, thank you." 

The incoming administration will take office in December.