THE UP Cebu Electoral Board decided to suspend the Student Council Elections for 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic.

“Be it further resolved, that the University of the Philippines Cebu University Student Council Elections 2020 shall be suspended until physical elections become possible when in-person classes resume or until democratic and representative elections are ensured,” according to the resolution by the electoral board.

The board further stated in its resolution that online elections during a pandemic are not feasible and foolproof.

“It compromises the aforementioned characteristics of governance that a national university and a student council should uphold due to the following reasons: low turnout because of inequality of resources, lack of effective and accessible platforms for fora, campaigns, grad rally, and debate, lack of online system that ensure the secrecy of ballot while maintaining the security transparency of the elections, and it is not ideal in a middle of global crisis as students need to prioritize their basic survival needs,” stressed in the same resolution.

The UPC University Student Council has reported that the resolution was approved and was done in consultation with various individuals such as the council’s adviser, previous student council officers and concerned constituents to ensure that the decision was as democratic as possible.

“All blocks across colleges were likewise consulted and each of their representatives signed a manifesto. The resolution was also attested by both political organizations and concurred by all of the incumbent Council members,” USC added.

The incumbent student body will still be serving in a holdover capacity since no new set of officers has been elected in accordance to the Council’s Constitution.

Follow the link:https://tinyurl.com/SEBResol2020 for the entire copy of the resolution.