Candidates Javier Lafuente and Carme Miralles proceed to the second round of elections, to take place on 6 and 7 November

Miralles obtained 35.79% of the weighted vote; Lafuente, 32.49%; and Héctor Sala, professor of Applied Economics, 31.73%. The proclamation of the definitive results of this first round of elections by the general electoral board of the UAB will take place on 5 November.

As for the participation in this first round of elections of the different groups of the university community, in sector A (faculty with permanent links), the percentage reached 82.88%; in sector B (other academic staff and research staff in training), it was 31.92%; in sector C (undergraduate and graduate students), it was 12.98%; and in sector D (technical, management and administration and services staff), it was 63.36%.

Electronic voting

The university rector elections are conducted entirely by electronic voting: votes can be cast through any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. The electronic voting is carried out through a computer platform, common to all public universities in Catalonia, managed by the CSUC. This platform includes security systems that guarantee the anonymity of the votes cast and has the necessary tools so that voters can check that their vote has been cast correctly, without being able to establish a connection between the voter and their vote.

The voting period will open at 10 a.m. on 6 November and will close at 4 p.m. on 7 November. The proclamation of the final results of the second round by the general electoral board of the UAB will take place on 12 November.

First elections under the new LOSU law

These elections will be the first to be held in accordance with the Organic Law 2/2023, of 22 March, of the University System (LOSU), which in Article 51 and in the first transitory provision states that full-time permanent doctoral teaching and research staff with three six-year research periods, three five-year teaching periods and four years of university management experience in a single-person position may be candidates for the position of rector.

The rector shall be elected by direct election by weighted universal suffrage by all members of the university community and the term of office shall be six years, non-renewable and non-extendable.