THE failure of a motion to ban payday lenders from campus has sparked a claim that the voting platform is faulty.

At the final student forum of the academic year, welfare officer Charlotte Britton proposed banning advertising companies such as Wonga because of their extremely high interest rates.

The motion was defeated after a referendum saw only two votes cast, both of them against the motion.

Charlotte Britton, who proposed the motion, was quoted in several daily newspapers about the payday loan ban being successful, despite the official result recording that the motion was not approved.

Britton took to Facebook and posted “I’ve got issues with that result as I definitely voted and I know other people that did too.”

The computer software used to conduct the referenda is the same system used to elect officers, change the Union’s constitution and administer society and sports club elections.

Declaring the election invalid could also bring into question the full-time officer elections as well as countless motions that have had a financial impact on the Union.

Joshua Hale, a student with the Discovery charity and People and Planet society has also come forward to say they voted for the motion and it hasn’t been counted.

The students’ union was contacted for comment but at the time of publication had not done so.

On the failed motion, the University and Charlotte Britton jointly said: “We are becoming increasingly concerned about payday loans lenders targeting students.
“These lenders or legal loan sharks as they’ve been dubbed lend money over short periods of time at extremely high interest rates, often via the internet.”

Criticism of poor voter turnout has been raised at previous forums and president-elect Zahid Raja has announced plans to overhaul the current system, in which students vote online after the forum. One possibility could see voting terminals being used at forums.