The representative elections of the Student Union of the University of Lapland (LYY) were held on 2-8 November. Artikla, representing law students, became the winner of the elections and the largest electoral association. The biggest vote-pullers were Jani Siirilä of KTK’s Mahtilista, the electoral association representing the students of the Faculty of Education, with 62 votes, and Viljo Vuorimäki of YTK-Superlista, the electoral association representing the students of the Faculty of Social Sciences, with 60 votes.

In the current Council of Representatives, there was no KTK related electoral association at all. Siirilä was overjoyed on election night: “It feels good! It’s great that we got two places on the KTK list, it’s great for this group to go towards new experiences”.

The electoral association gathering left-wing students, Lapin punaiset, also made a comeback. The elections were especially a victory for the student organization associations, as they collected a total of 17 seats, while, for example, Neliapila, with a center party background, was left without seats.

The voter turnout was a whopping 36.88 %. The result is the best in LYY’s recent history.

“We brought the Elections closer to our members by enabling voting in the application used by students. In addition to that, there was a wide coverage of both student organization and political electoral associations, which did active election work”, Krista Perälä, Chair of the Central Election Committee, assessed the reasons for the increase in the voter turnout.

LYY’s highest decision-making power is exercised by the Council of Representatives The representatives are elected by the members of the student union in proportional elections. The term of office of the current Council ends on 30 November, and the new Council begins its two-year term on 1 December. The Council consists of twenty (20) members. The first task of the Council is to elect LYY Board for 2024.

Council of Representatives 2023–2025

Artikla (Law Students) 8 (+2)
TAO-lista (Art & Design Students) 4 (-2)
YTK-SUPERLISTA (Social Science Students) 3 (-1)
KTK:n mahtilista (Education Students) 2 (+2)
lapin punaiset (Left) 1 (+1)
Vihertävät (Green) 1
Kokoomus (Coalition Party) 1
Neliapila (Center Party) 0 (-2)