The voting period of next Student council elections is from 28th of October to 3rd of November. The call for elections has been given on 13th of September 2021, and the deadline to submit the forms of candidates and electoral alliances and circles is 13th of October. You can also be an independent candidate without any alliance. There will be an election compass for all the candidates, that will open for public use before the voting period starts. All members of OYY can vote digitally between 28th of October and 3rd of November.
The Student Council will elect a new Board for OYY in the beginning of December. The candidates for the Board can be members of the Student Council or any member of OYY.
The current line-up of the Student Council and the contact information for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council can be found here.
More information about the Student Council can be found on this page.
Important dates:
Election call 13.9.
Nomination of candidates ends 13.10.
Voting instructions 15.10
Candidates time to fill the election compass 15.–22.10.
Election compass open to the public 25.10.
Voting period Thu 28.10 – Wed 3.11.
The Interdisciplinary Electoral Circle
Students of Educational Sciences (11 candidates)
2 Jarkko Impola
3 Salla Karhunen
4 Annika Sulkala
5 Kati Korteniemi
6 Jukka Turunen
7 Ville-Pekka Saarinen
8 Willemijn Weterings
9 Laura Putkinen
10 Anni-Maria Teirikko
11 Taru Lyöri
12 Samuli Rysä
Humanistic election alliance (13 candidates)
13 Milla Laakso
14 Janne Venho
15 Aleksi Mäntylä
16 Suvi-Anna Salminen
17 Elli Yrjänä
18 Emma Hulkkonen
19 Juuso Syngelmä
20 Karoliina Kokko-Tollola
21 Eveliina Tiusanen
22 Joonatan Salminen
23 Antti Repo
24 Sonja Sippala
25 Jere Laitinen
Students of the Youth of National Coalition Party (22 candidates)
26 Erno Ahola-Olli
27 Lotta Ellonen
28 Olli Joki
29 Ida-Maria Juntunen
30 Olli Juvonen
31 Lotta Karjalainen
32 Paavo Koho
33 Roope Korkala
34 Aapomikko Matti
35 Santtu Mäenpää
36 Sampo Niittyviita
37 Iikka Numminen
38 Aleksi Nurminen
39 Tuomas Pikkujämsä
40 Arttu Rintanen
41 Anna Rukko
42 Wilma Ruotsalainen
43 Mikko Salmi
44 Eerik Silvén
45 Atte Syväniemi
46 Jasmin Urpilainen
47 Aamos Valjus
Solidar electoral alliance (8 candidates)
48 Matias Hartikainen
49 Jaakko Holopainen
50 Ilkka Karkulehto
51 Timo Keisala
52 Miika Knuutila
53 Waltteri Niiranen
54 Reetta Pirttikoski
55 Sumu Posio
Science students (22 candidates)
56 Tom-Erik Toikka
57 Pauliina Järvinen
58 Maria Ollila
59 Durba Biswas
60 Aku Sirkkala
61 Veli-Jussi Haanpää
62 Iikka Kokkoniemi
63 Mikko Kovero
64 Elina Lassi
65 Joonas Rantapää
66 Niko Sallanko
67 Anssi Sarvi
68 Nuuti Vasari
69 Miika Virkki
70 Teemu Virtanen
71 Samu Vanhala
72 Janne Eskelinen
73 Anisa Harju
74 Antti Karppinen
75 Viljami Viinikka
76 Vilja Tervo
77 Iida-Maria Rantanen
Medical alliance (13 candidates)
78 Jaakko Vähämäki
79 Jani Fält
80 Tapani Laine
81 Maari Kytöharju
82 Essi Leinonen
83 Roosa Pasuri
84 Hanna Koskela
85 Katri Holmi
86 Roope Vuontisjärvi
87 Matin Moradi
88 Jatta Kaija
89 Anni Vakkuri
90 Tiia Hirvaskoski
Oulu Centre and non-aligned students (17 candidates)
91 Fanni Alaraappana
92 Olavi Erävuori
93 Eeva-Kaarina Heikkilä
94 Jere Karjula
95 Moustafa Khairi
96 Eveliina Leskelä
97 Ella Liinamaa
98 Luukas Lohi
99 Eevasisko Mehtätalo
100 David Ochia
101 Olga Oinas-Panuma
102 Niilo Ojanaho
103 Leea Putula
104 Miriam Putula
105 Suvi Suonsivu
106 Elias Tornberg
107 Hilpi-Kaisla Tuononen
Election Circle of Technology and Economy Students
Economic Students electoral alliance (21 candidates)
108 Joram Häcki
109 Roosa Jussila
110 Mikael Kiviahde
111 Aleksi Käsmä
112 Meeri Kokkonen
113 Elisabet Lakkala
114 Juho Lahtinen
115 Lotta Leinonen
116 Taru Nygård
117 Mikhail Parfentiev
118 Antti Pennala
119 Jenna Poranen
120 Joona Pulkkinen
121 Tia Rahkila
122 Kamaldeep Kaur Randhawa
123 Mari Rantakangas
124 Jarno Siivola
125 Minttu Varis
126 Samuli Virtanen
127 Elias Virranniemi
128 Juha-Jaakko Yli-Ilkka
Electoral alliance of Technology students in IEE (8 candidates)
129 Janne Kilponen
130 Matias Hasa
131 Otto Loukkola
132 Sofia Tuovinen
133 Jialiang Sun
134 Anssi Uistola
135 Ville Palatsi
136 Mustafa Al-Rubaye
Architecture, Production & Mechanical electoral alliance (17 candidates)
137 Emma Ahtiainen
138 Greta Mäntykangas
139 Marja-Leena Koponen
140 Arttu Humalajoki
141 Vili Taskinen
142 Veera Hiljanen
143 Aleksanteri Heikkinen
144 Anton Kostiainen
145 Eemeli Nisula
146 Henri Harlin
147 Joanna Sallanko
148 Joni Erkkilä
149 Lauri Lassila
150 Santeri Siira
151 Tuukka Lehtinen
152 Veikko Tirri
153 Ville Saarenpää
Environment & Process electoral alliance (16 candidates)
154 Albert Korpivaara
155 Andreas Malinen
156 Ella Palosaari
157 Iisakki Tapaila
158 Kasperi Pyykkönen
159 Teemu Turpeinen
160 Antti Johansson
161 Ilmari Tilvis
162 Julia Liukko
163 Jussi Hautala
164 Juuso Sivula
165 Meri Pekki
166 Nikita Konovets
167 Olli Koivusaari
168 Sirja Jeskanen
169 Tiitu-Lotta Paju
Candidates who are not in any electoral circle or alliance in alphabetical order
170 Kauri Haasmaa
171 Huy Nguyen
A Candidate’s Guide
It is fantastic that you have made the decision to take part in the Student Council elections! You might have already given a lot of thought to what your campaign might look like, or you might have just decided to enter as a candidate. You might already have some prior experience in campaigning, or this might be your very first time as a candidate. The purpose of this guide is to support you in your Student Council elections campaign.
The Student Council is the highest decision-making body in the Student Union of the University of Oulu (OYY). It consists of 37 representatives who are elected every two years. The Student Council decides on the guidelines of the Student Union’s finances and activities, that is, on how the membership fees are used and what kind of activities are arranged by the Student Union. The Student Council also selects the Executive Board and the Secretary General. The representatives gather in meetings usually once a month, excluding the summer months (about 6–8 times a year), and topical issues are discussed in a lively manner. The Student Council is directed by the Chair of the Student Council, who is also the main interpreter of the Student Union’s rules.
During the past two years the Student Council has decided on the following matters:
- Adopting the Student Union’s strategy for the term 2021-2025.
- Amending and adopting the Student Union’s new rules.
- Approved the Student Union’s contingency plan.
- Approved the Student Union´s corporate governance strategy.
- Electing the new editor-in-chief.
- Electing the student representatives in the University Board of Directors and the University Collegium.
- Electing the representatives in the different sections of the Student Union, for example, the Committee for Economic Affairs and the Central Electoral Committee.
- Accepting the annual action plan, which defines what the following year’s Executive Board of the Student Union will do during their year of operation
- Accepting the budget and mid-term economic plan.
- Electing the Executive Board of the Student Union of the University of Oulu
All members of the Student Union who have registered for attendance at the University by 13 October 2021 are eligible to become members of the Student Council. The candidate must be 18 years old on the election day at the latest. A person who has been assigned a legal guardian is not eligible for the election. To run for the election, the candidate needs to submit election documents. Election documents are available in OYY’s office in the Linnanmaa Campus (Erkki Koiso-Kanttilan katu 1, 2T door, 1st floor, 90270 Oulu) and in OYY’s website (https://www.oyy.fi/vaikuttaminen/student-council-elections/?lang=en) starting from Sept 13, 2021. The deadline for entering as a candidate is on 13 October 2021 at 12 pm, which means that the election documents must be submitted to the OYY’s office by 13 October 2021 by 12 pm at the latest. Documents delivered by mail must also have arrived by this time. The candidates can form electoral alliances and election circles.
You can discuss your candidacy and entering as a candidate with the electoral alliance representative you find comfortable. Contact information for the electoral alliances are updated to web page https://www.oyy.fi/vaikuttaminen/student-council-elections/?lang=en when the Student Union receives information about electoral alliances and circles. If you do not find alliance which is suitable for you from our web page, be brave and contact your own student society, guild (is there an alliance which is in the middle of being established) or student council election coordinator (to find out about other possible lists) to find out if there is a suitable alliance for you.
In addition, all candidates have the right to form a new electoral alliance. An electoral alliance can be formed by at least two candidates. A candidate can be a member of only one electoral alliance. In an electoral alliance, the maximum number of members is twice the amount of council members elected in the elections, which means the total of 74. An election circle can be formed by at least one electoral alliance and at least one candidate or at least two electoral alliances. A candidate can be a part of only one electoral alliance and one election circle. An electoral alliance can be a part of only one election circle. In an election circle, the maximum number of members is twice the amount of council members elected in the elections, which means the total of 74.
Advice for electoral alliances:
No stone should be left unturned when searching for candidates. In a group, go through all potential names and contact each of them personally. For example, those active in subject and interest societies and those working as student tutors often share the characteristics needed in the OYY’s activities. However, your goal should be to get all willing candidates to take part in the elections, so be open about that you are gathering candidates for a list and ask if anyone is aware of a person willing to take part in the elections.
Why have you decided to stand for the Student Council elections? Why should someone vote for you? Who could vote for you? How could you reach your voters?
Before you enter as a candidate, you should give some thought to why you are standing for the Student Council elections. If the reason behind your candidacy is unclear to you, it might remain unclear for the voters as well. You should clarify what kind of issues you plan to work on in the Student Council. You can find it helpful to discuss the campaign themes with your electoral alliance. You can also reflect on your main objectives for the next two years. Tell people who you are. An easy way to get votes is to tell all your acquaintances and their acquaintances as well that you are standing for the elections.
The following questions might get you started:
- Who am I and what do I study?
- Which electoral alliance am I part of?
- What motivates me to stand for the Student Council elections?
- What things define me as a person and what are my values?
- What things are important for students and how could I improve them?
- What things do I want to work on to improve the lives of all students?
- What kind of things will I be working on in the Student Council?
- What is my campaign slogan?
Your photo is also very important. Consider what you will be wearing in your campaign photo, as different clothes express different attitudes. In addition, you can think of the facial expression you will be using. Will you be smiling or giving a more serious facial expression? What kind of message do you want your photo to convey to the voters? Do you take a selfie or use the photo you have in your CV? Keep in touch with your electoral alliance, as they often arrange photoshoots for their candidates.
When you are done planning your profile, you can start thinking what kind of people could be voting for you. In the Student Council elections, your voters are often people close to you, so you should let all your colleagues and their friends know of your candidacy. Naturally, your campaign should reach the students outside your own faculty as well, as people with similar interests can also be found in different areas of the university. You can talk about your candidacy face-to-face or use social media.
We highly recommend telling about yourself in our Tuudo election page, where every candidate has an opportunity to add a short description about themselves. You can also add a picture and call-to-action button which can guide the voter to your other election page or alliance page. More information about the Tuudo election page and presenting yourself will be available later.
A successful campaign includes influencing other people through different methods that support each other. In a broader sense, campaigning can always be considered as an attempt to sell yourself to the voters.
You should consider creating a communication plan to support your campaign. It doesn’t have to be anything impressive as long as it helps you track your objectives and follow the schedule. In your communication plan, you can for example answer the following questions:
- Who would vote for me?
- What kind of channels of communication are my voters using?
- Where do my voters go on a weekly/daily/monthly basis?
- How can I best reach the group of voters?
The schedule section of your communication plan can for example look like this:
| DATE | TASK | CHECK |
| 13 Oct 2021 | Enter as candidate | x |
| XX Oct 2021 | Take the campaign photo | |
| 22 Oct 2021 | Answer the election compass | |
| 25 and 27 Oct 2021 | Inform about your candidacy on social media | |
| Week 44 | Tell 20 different people in your guild that you are standing for the elections | |
| XX XX 2021 | etc. |
You can find the important deadlines that you can use in your communication plan at the end of this guide.
Advice for candidates:
Focus your campaign on where your voters are. Mention your candidacy to as many people as possible during student events and guild rooms. Remember that campaigning in teaching circumstances is forbidden. You should also spend time thinking whether you can utilize your own social media channels, or do you want to create new ones to support your campaign. Campaigning is usually much more fun in a group, so take your friend with you to plan and carry out your campaign. Remember to check advertising and campaigning rules from Student Union’s Student Council Election ethical rules.
The Student Union’s policy paper and other documents can be used to gain more information on the matters that are dealt with in the Student Union www.oyy.fi/asiakirjat. More information about current Student Council and Excecutive Board decisions can be found from https://www.oyy.fi/paatoksenteko/.
Advice for electoral alliances:
Bring your objectives and candidates forward with social media campaign. In a group, discuss what kind of a message you want to convey as a group and what is the best way of presenting it to the voters. Voting stunts and social media pulses, that is, sharing the same post in social media, are good ways of reaching a lot of people. You can use applications like Canva to create good-looking images. www.canva.com.
Arrange a meeting for answering the questions in the candidate selection engine. All candidates in your alliance should not be required to give the same answers, but as you discuss the questions in a group, you can get a more versatile picture of the issues and learn something new.
The Central Electoral Committee has approved the instructions, which can be found on the election website. However, keep the following things in mind:
- election advertisement is allowed only from 24 Oct to 7 Nov on notice boards designated by the Central Electoral Committee
- advertising during lectures and in other teaching situations is strictly prohibited
- in order to advertise in guild rooms, subject society spaces, or their e-mail lists, the candidate needs permission from said guild or society
The advertising instructions can be found at https://www.oyy.fi/vaikuttaminen/student-council-elections/?lang=en. Breaching the ethical rules should immediately be informed to the Chair of the Central Electoral Committee (kvl@oyy.fi).
What kind of support can electoral alliances receive from the Student Union office?
- You can borrow equipment. The Student Union can borrow a camera for the alliance to take your election pictures. The equipment can be borrowed only once per alliance. Inquiries: viestintaasiantuntija@oyy.fi.
- Rooms can be arranged for meetings and taking pictures. One reservation per election circle. Inquiries: santeri.siira@oyy.fi
- A maximum of 10 copies of A3-sized campaign posters delivered to the Student Union in a pdf-file. The material should be sent to santeri.siira@oyy.fi
Reserve enough time for answering the election compass. The application has both nationwide questions and questions by OYY. You should also give an explanation to your answers, at least to the ones that are most important to you, so that the voters get a clearer image of your thoughts. A hyperlink to the election compass will be sent to each candidate by e-mail. In addition to your answers, you can also add a description of yourself, your campaign photo and basic information about you to the election compass. Candidates can fill in their answers 15.-22.10., and the election compass opens to the public on 25.10.
13 Oct at 12 (noon) Deadline for enrolling as a candidate
15 Oct Voting Aid Application open for candidates, give your own answers
18 Oct Advertising period starts
21 Oct at 10 am to 2 pm Election fair on Linnanmaa campus close to green coat rackets
21 Oct at 10 am to 2 pm Election fair on Kontinkangas campus
21 Oct at 12 pm to 1 pm Election panel on Linnanmaa campus, the panel will be streamed to Kontinkangas
22 Oct Election compass closed for candidates, give your answers before this date
25 Oct Election compass open for voters, let the voters know of the Voting Aid
28 Oct at 12 pm Voting starts
3 Nov 4 pm Voting ends
4 Nov Advertising period ends, remove your advertisements
The Central Electoral Committee reserves the right to change these dates and times.
Remember these:
- Enter as a candidate in time and, if necessary, contact the electoral alliance representatives.
- Think why you are standing for elections and what the objectives of your campaign are
- Plan your campaign and make its schedule fit your own schedule
- Tell as many people as possible about your candidacy
- Do not forget to vote. The electronic voting will take place from the 28th of October to the 3rd of November in Tuudo mobile application election page and in vaalit.tuudo.fi.
Is something still unclear? If you have questions concerning the elections, you can contact the Election Coordinator Santeri Siira (santeri.siira@oyy.fi), Chair of the Central Electoral Committee Jussi Karhunen (kvl@oyy.fi) or the Secretary General Kauko Keskisärkkä (paasihteeri@oyy.fi).
Ethical rules for Student Council Elections
Ethical rules of the Student Union of University of Oulu Council Elections are meant to give every electoral alliance an equal chance for recruiting candidates for council elections and election advertisement. Also these ethical rules are in place in order to ensure safe space for voters and election candidates for them to make their own decision who to vote and which electoral alliance a candidate wants to be part of. The Central Electoral Committee has approved these rules in their meeting on 24.9.2021.
Recruiting student council election candidates through information networks, e.g. email lists, Telegram, Whatsapp and Discord is only allowed with administrators permission. In the case of social media groups or pages, the electoral alliance representatives need to have permission from the social media group or page administrator.
Attaching posters or advertisements of electoral alliance or election circle to the noticeboard is only allowed with the permission of the one responsible for the noticeboard. Recruiting candidates to student council elections is prohibited during or in close vicinity of teaching situations.
Face-to-face election candidate recruitment must happen through electoral alliance’s own contacts. For example, using new student or tutor email lists acquired through faculty are prohibited. in the recruitment process.
Election candidate recruitment should not happen when a potential candidate is under influence of drugs or alcohol. Attempting to bribe or pressure the candidate as means of recruitment are prohibited.
Setting other electoral alliances or election circles into unfavorable positions can be considered as a way of disturbing election candidate recruitment.
General
Offensive, insulting or inappropriate election advertising is prohibited.
Election advertising is not allowed in lectures or in other teaching situations.
Unauthorized covering, editing or removing of the election advertisements is prohibited.
Bullying is prohibited.
It is not allowed to sell one’s vote.
Election advertisement in the University of Oulu
Election advertisements can be posted only on noticeboards designated by the Central Electoral Committee. The maximum poster size is one sheet of A2 for each electoral alliance. One half of a noticeboard is reserved for each electoral alliance. If there is a great number of candidates, the Central Electoral Committee can grant extra space. The Central Electoral Committee can arrange advertisements, if the layout prevents effective use of the noticeboard.
Election advertising on the designated noticeboard is allowed starting from October 18, 2021. Advertisers have to collect their advertisements on November 4, 2021 at the latest.
It is not allowed to advertise on any other noticeboard in the university. In order to advertise on the noticeboards of the guilds and societies, the advertiser needs permission from said guild or society. The Central Electoral Committee urges the guilds and societies to treat all candidates equally.
Election advertisement on information networks
The electoral alliances and election circles are allowed to advertise on information channels, such as email lists, Whatsapp and Telegram with the administrator’s permission. The administrator (e.g. student guild, subject society or other student society) defines the scale of advertisement on the information channel. It is not allowed to use information channels for personal advertisement. Mentioning the candidate number and the electoral alliance’s and/or the election circle’s name in the signature at the end of the email is not considered as personal advertisement.
The Central Electoral Committee urges all information channel administrators to treat all candidates equally.
Other instructions
Disturbing election advertising is prohibited. Advertisements that can be considered as disturbing can be e.g. advertising that hinders the normal use of an email list or advertising that causes disturbing noise through loudspeakers. Disturbing campaigning of other electoral alliances/election circles and candidates by e.g. slandering in social media or someplace else is prohibited. Also, advertising that gives an unfavourable impression on opposing candidates or electoral alliances/election circles is considered to be disturbing advertising.
Election advertising is allowed through the Oulu Student Magazine (Oulun ylioppilaslehti) with the permission of the Editor-in-Chief. It is possible to buy a banner advertisement on the Oulu Student Magazine’s website.
Candidates can advertise the elections, themselves or their electoral alliance/election circle in their clothing.
Candidates and electoral alliances/election circles can arrange public events where they tell about themselves. Requirements to inform about these kinds of events are subject to the same instructions as the election advertisement.
The electoral alliance and the election circle are responsible for the appropriateness of their candidates’ advertisements.
Adding to the instructions on election advertising
The Central Electoral Committee can give additional information on election advertising and specify the interpretation of these instructions by publishing them on OYY’s official website. In addition, the information is emailed to the representatives of electoral alliances as well as all candidates when possible.
Privacy of the person casting the vote must be respected. When a voter submits their vote on an electronic device, an adequate space must be provided to assure that the secrecy of voting is retained.
Pressuring is prohibited.
It is prohibited to uphold unofficial voting election booths or space (for example computers) for voting. Voting stunts or events organised by societies where people are encouraged to vote in student council elections are allowed.
Encouraging voters to cast a vote for a certain group or candidate by offering rewards, e.g. coffee tickets, overall patches or other merchandise, is prohibited. Handing over or selling your own vote is not allowed. Distributing material during the normal campaign process is allowed.
The Central Electoral Committee of the Student Union can administer disciplinary action due to violation of these ethical rules in accordance with the means described in election regulations. The consequences for an individual candidate may be a written warning or the taking away of their eligibility. The consequences for an electoral alliance or an election circle may be a written warning, a public reprimand, or disassembling the electoral alliance or the election circle in question.
If the offencer is a society operating within the Student Union, the society may be punished by denying the opportunity to apply for yearly society grants or training. If the offencer is some other party supporting an electoral alliance or an election circle financially or contributionally, the consequences may be directed to the electoral alliance or the election circle in question. The process of hearing and processing the violations are further detailed in section 33 of the Election Regulations of the Student Union of Oulu University.
The Central Electoral Committee wishes that all the voters, candidates, electoral alliances and election circles to have upright election spirit and respectful behavior towards other voters, candidates, electoral alliances and election circles.