Another candidate in the Rep Elections was spotted offering supporters a chance to win a ‘gift’ worth £20 at the Institute of Education yesterday.
Rhi Skelhorn and Nick Miao
The candidate for Accommodation and Housing Officer Karrar Hashim told voters that they would be entered into a £20 prize draw if he wins the election.
He was seen with his campaign team in the foyer of the Institute of Education at 4pm yesterday displaying two posters: one outlining his manifesto pledges with a QR code to the voting page, and another one titled ‘FREE Sweets’ [sic] with a QR code to a WhatsApp group chat named ‘Karrar Friends’.
When asked about the latter poster, the medic student initially said it was for his ‘supporters’ and anyone wishing to become friends.
He added that those who choose to join the group chat would be entered into a free £20 cash draw if he were successful in his campaign as an ‘appreciation offer’ to voters.
However, the candidate seemingly backtracked on the pledge during an interview and was reluctant to call it a cash draw on the record, describing it as ‘just a draw’ instead.
When pressed on what exactly voters stood to win from this ‘draw’, Hashim vaguely hinted towards a non-specific gift, ‘Maybe a gift card, or something like that’.
He was keen to stress during the interview that it would ‘not necessarily be a cash draw’ but confirmed that the value of the prize ‘would be worth £20’.
He also confirmed that the draw would be funded by his ‘personal account’ and as such would not be claiming it on his Union-mandated campaign budget of £25.
Union byelaws state that candidates ‘must not use resources that are not readily available to all candidates’, such as personal funds.
Towards the end of the interview, Hashim became increasingly agitated and wanted to know what the angle of our story was.
He became visibly anxious when one of our reporters requested to take a picture of his campaign material on display, and asked that we omit the second poster for reasons only known to him and his campaign team.
The poster in question, below, does not mention anything about a cash draw.
The Cheese Grater promptly joined the ‘Karrar Friends’ group chat using the QR code but it would appear that we had missed the initial announcement.
We did, however, catch a glimpse of what Hashim’s cash draw might entail after a group member replied to what seems to be the candidate’s original announcement, which read, ‘If I win the elections, I’d love to do a prize draw (gift card, subscription, or cash, max £20 x1)’.
Hashim is not the only one offering the promise of cash prizes to voters of late.
Twitter boss Elon Musk recently offered voters in swing states the opportunity to win $1m every day by signing a petition ‘in favour of free speech’ in the run-up to the US election, a move which the Department of Justice warned may be illegal.
The news also adds to recent suspected incidents of electoral misconduct by candidates at this year’s Rep Elections, in which over 60% of the roles were left vacant or uncontested.
This includes serial candidate-of-seven Yixiao Huang, who was believed to have used AI and switched pronouns to qualify for positive action quotas, Orlando Teng, who was seen in the Cloisters offering free scratchcards for votes, and at least five candidates who are standing on behalf of an external vegan lobbying group, despite not having declared so in their manifestos.
Hashim replied with the following comment.
‘The £20 cash draw you mentioned as an “appreciation offer” is not being funded from the £25 campaign budget provided by the Union.
‘The offer is merely a small gesture to acknowledge and thank those who engage with my campaign, and I have taken great care to ensure it complies with the Union’s expenditure rules.
‘If there are any concerns about compliance, I am more than willing to cooperate with the Union to address them transparently.’
Hashim acknowledged the use of AI in his response.
The Students’ Union replied with the following.
‘The Representative Election is run in accordance with our Election Byelaws and overseen by an external Returning Officer.
‘Any student can report concerns to the Returning Officer via the Deputy Returning Officer who will investigate.
‘More information can be found here: https://studentsunionucl.org/election-rules.’
Update: The Cheese Grater understands that Hashim has been disqualified by the Union and did not appear on the ballot paper.
