A vote of no confidence against incoming Oxford Union president George Abaraonye has passed, the institution confirmed on Tuesday morning. The motion secured the required two-thirds majority, despite claims that the poll itself was compromised.
However, in a statement, Mr Abaraonye said the poll was “compromised” by “untested” regulations, and he alleged people campaigning to oust him had “unsupervised access” to the email account collecting proxy votes.
A notice published by extraordinary returning officer Donovan Lock said 1,228 ballots were cast in favour of no confidence, while 501 were cast against it.
The notice states the president-elect is deemed to have resigned in accordance with Oxford Union’s rules, however it adds if allegations or complaints are lodged the result shall be pending their determination.
Proceedings were informally suspended early on Monday after the returning officer was allegedly subjected to “obstruction, intimidation, and unwarranted hostility by a number of representatives”, a notice said.
Mr Abaraonye’s statement claims the count was suspended because electoral officials believed “no legitimate and true result could be reached as a result of procedural failures”.
It adds: “We equivocally deny that any representative appointed by George engaged in intimidating or disruptive behaviour.”
The statement, posted on Tuesday morning, said the matter was referred to the disciplinary committee on Monday afternoon, and that Mr Abaraonye is still the president-elect.
Thousands of members were eligible to take part in the no-confidence vote, which was open for in-person voting between 10am and 8pm on Saturday, as well as for members to submit votes by proxy.
Mr Abaraonye, who became president-elect of the historic debating society after a vote earlier this year, faced controversy after Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a Utah Valley University event in September, in what US authorities called a political assassination.
Mr Kirk, a 31-year-old father-of-two, was a Donald Trump ally and co-founder and chief executive of the right-wing youth organisation Turning Point USA.
The Times reported that in one message to fellow students in a WhatsApp chat, Mr Abaraonye wrote “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f****** go”, while another on his Instagram account read: “Charlie Kirk got shot loool.”
In a statement last month the Oxford Union condemned his remarks, and said complaints filed against Mr Abaraonye had been forwarded for disciplinary proceedings.
In an Instagram post that is no longer public, Mr Abaraonye said he had submitted a motion of confidence in himself in an attempt to reclaim “true accountability and (reaffirm) that the Oxford Union must remain a place where students can make mistakes, apologise sincerely, and learn from them”.
Posting on social media last week, Oxford Stand Up To Racism said Mr Abaraonye has faced a tirade of racist abuse online since.
Oxford Union’s statement in September condemned the racial abuse and threats Mr Abaraonye has faced.
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