A referendum of students at Oxford University has been declared void, following allegations of serious electoral malpractice during a vote on whether Oxford should remain affiliated with the National Union of Students (NUS). Following the result, which saw the ‘No’ campaign win by a slim margin of 1,652 to 1,780, students raised concerns that a thousand votes had been faked. A committee at Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) later announced that the election was invalid, when it was revealed that around 1,100 ‘spare’ unique voter codes were used online during the referendum. It now appears that around 70 per cent of students voted for the ‘Yes’ campaign. The allegations emerged after weeks of campaigning over whether OUSU should maintain its link with the NUS, the body which represents seven million students across the UK. Following the result last Wednesday, suspicions were raised after an unexpectedly high turnout. Jack Matthews, who led the ‘
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