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Students at the University of Ottawa have voted out the student association that had been accused of mismanagement.

In a referendum held Feb. 8 to 11, undergraduate students overwhelmingly chose a new group, the University of Ottawa Students’ Union, to represent them.

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Only 25 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, which had represented undergraduate students for more than 60 years.

Just under 17 per cent of the 33,684 students eligible to vote cast a ballot.

“I’m super shocked, but super excited, too,” said Tiyana Maharaj, one of the organizers behind the University of Ottawa Students’ Union. She didn’t expect the fledgling group would grab 75 per cent of the referendum vote, but said it’s evidence students were fed up with “years” of alleged “mismanagement and corruption” at the Federation.

The university administration hired the former university ombudsperson to conduct the referendum.