In camera
How low can we go?
A DECREASE IN voter turnout in student elections calls into question the desire for political participation of students. This year in particular at the U of O proved to be especially disappointing.
The voter turnout was 21.88 per cent, which means that of the approximately 31,000 undergraduate students, only about 6,510 people voted. In 2009 the turnout was 27.2 per cent. How much lower will we go?
This was the second attempt to use electronic voting for Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) elections, which, in theory, should increase voter turnout because it makes voting more accessible for students. But in reality, fewer people took part this year than in 2009 when e-voting made its debut.
It’s hard to place blame because it’s difficult to determine whether the SFUO and the elections office did a poor job of promoting themselves and the elections, or if it’s a simple matter of students just not caring enough.
Everyone was sent an email with voting instructions, posters were plastered all over campus, and there were numerous class presentations—what’s the deal?
Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. Canadian universities typically don’t have astonishingly high voter turnouts. Maybe it’s time that we figure out why that is.
Time needs to be spent researching SFUO student elections. The elections office can trace where the votes come from because of the PIN and student number that is required to vote. It would be helpful to use this information to try and appeal to those faculties with lower voter rates. For example, if few science students voted, then next year the elections committee needs to focus more attention on increasing class talks or emails to those students.
Because of the option to vote in either French or English, we can compare the number of Francophone votes and Anglophone votes to see where improvements can be made.
If more people knew what exactly the SFUO did, or realized that they are in charge of an approximately $7-million budget, then I think more students would care about how their money was being spent.
Perhaps the SFUO needs to do more self-promotion to let students know who exactly they are and their purpose on campus. There are many other student bodies and groups on campus, which can make for confusion when differentiating the purpose of them. It can also be difficult during election time because not only are there executive races, but there are also elections for the SFUO’s Board of Administration and the U of O Senate. Some clarification of the differences between these races could improve the understanding of the various positions, which in turn would highlight the importance of each race.
Other than that—get involved, you lazy sloths! You already spend ample amounts of time of Facebook and YouTube, so next year, take a few minutes to look at candidates’ profiles and groups and get to know them by watching their videos.
As much as it’s easy to point the finger at a lack of promotions and information provided by the elections office and the SFUO, it goes both ways here.
For those of you who didn’t vote, please don’t complain about services or businesses such as the Agora bookstore, Foot Patrol, or 1848 because those are just a few examples of the things the SFUO executive is in charge of—and you could have had a say in who exactly is the SFUO executive is if you had voted.
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