Aberdeen students are trying to elect a cat as rector because the whole election is such a farce

A group of students at the University of Aberdeen have become dissatisfied with the current Rector election, and have become campaigning for a cat to become the next Rector.

Their attempts to install Buttons the Cat as Rector were thwarted by the election committee, who refused to validate his candidacy as he isn't human.

Now they're appealing and so far 97 students have signed a petition to see justice be done, and for Buttons the cat to be able to run for Rector.

The candidate did not meet the requirements under the OSCR Guidelines to being a charity trustee so Professor Phil Hannaford, who is the Returning Officer, confirmed that he cannot validate Button's nomination. This means the Elections Committee will be unable to take the nomination forward.

The students who proposed Buttons' candidacy now have 24 hours to appeal this rejection on the grounds of Buttons' non-human status and so have created a petition online.

Buttons was unavailable directly for a comment, but a campaign spokesperson told The Tab Aberdeen, "Buttons is the perfect fit – spends all of his time on campus and is totally apolitical.

"He is not directly affiliated with any university societies, organisations or departments and he engages with the student body regularly.

"And he is fluffy. These are qualities we just couldn't see in any of the other candidates."

This comes as the latest incident in the Rector election, which was declared null and void last semester after 3 of the candidates' campaign teams raised a number of concerns about the conduct of Maggie Chapman's team.

Physical campaigning starts on Monday the 19th of February and the election hustings are on the same day from 2pm to 4pm.

Voting in the 2018 Rectorial Election will start on the 20th of February and the results will be announced on the 22nd of February at 5pm.

Follow Buttons' campaign on Facebook, and keep up to date with the Rector Election on The Tab Aberdeen.