Online voting is not the solution to student apathy

* This editorial appeared in the Feb. 5 issue of the Xaverian Weekly

As students head into their annual electoral exercise, choosing who will be their representatives for the next year, the word on the tip of everyone's lips is "turnout."

In the hopes of boosting turnout, the latest tactic of our elected representatives hasn’t been to boost engagement or make students care more about the election. Instead, they have chosen to jeopardize the very legitimacy of the vote and its result by bringing the polling stations into the bedrooms of every student.

Online voting is a relatively new technology that has evolved greatly since the days of online polls for People Magazine about Paris Hilton's new puppy. But students' unions across the country are now harnessing that same online technology for their own elections.

At more and more campuses across the country, students will no longer make their mark on a piece of paper, but click their mouse on a screen. And each of those unions should be ashamed.

The purpose of an election is to elect new representatives of the people to student government where their concerns will be addressed. To fail to engage that populace with issues that matter to them, to fail to reach out to students and make them believe in each candidate's abilities to work for them, voter turnout drops.

For the past few years, unions across the country have been struggling with lower and lower voter turnout, and now they're throwing in the towel one after the other. They have begun appealing to each student's laziness, rather than their sense of democratic duty.

Just because a certain percentage of students are easily convinced to log on to a website and click-to-vote one day of the year does not mean that they are active participants in their union year-round. The challenge students' union executives from coast to coast now face is finding a way of extending that one-day of engagement to the rest of the year.

If this cannot be accomplished, if students cannot believe in the effectiveness of their ballot to extend beyond voting day, regardless of how they cast it, online voting results will begin to dwindle just like their paper counterparts.

Putting the vote online for an Internet-savvy audience is akin to drawing pictures with crayons for the local preschool kids when asking them what kind of snack they want after their nap. Just because you address something in terms your constituents will understand doesn't mean you're reaching them, even if a lot of them happen to respond. Students are smart, sooner or later they'll realize that their students' unions are still ignoring them, but in a seemingly more accessible package.

Online voting is a temporary fix for an issue that has yet to be fully addressed by any Canadian students' union. It's like a Band-aid on a bullet wound, and student bodies are losing blood faster than their elected leaders can figure out why, let alone before they can try and stop it.

When the electorate can no longer see the legitimacy of the election, when they cannot see democracy in action, engagement drops. For our democratic system relies on far more than role-playing democracy, it relies on the image of democracy being carried out. And when we rest our faith on a simple click of a mouse, followed by a computer printout with the name of our next executive, where will our faith lie?

If our elected representatives are truly concerned about boosting voter turnout, then perhaps they should focus their energies first on representing students' concerns — unfinished protests, residence misconduct, hockey tournaments gone awry and sky-rocketing student fees, to name a few — rather than their own legacy of record-breaking voter turnout.

Being a member of a students' union executive is a thankless job, it's true. Hours upon hours of dedicated work are often accomplished with little recognition or lots of criticism. But just as voter engagement relies on the image of an active democracy, so the image of democracy relies on elected officials who follow through on promises, work visibly for their electorate and set realizable goals. Voters have an extraordinarily low tolerance for elected officials who think of their own legacy before those who put them in office.

You want high voter turnout? Think of the people, and then they will think of you.

By Danielle Webb

Ottawa-StFX rivalry heating up

Hello friends,

For those of you who've noticed an apparent rivalry with a certain Ottawa university that has been brewing as of late, you'll be interested in this update.

If you don't know already, the University of Ottawa Elections Bureau has boldly stated they intend to beat our voter turnout record this year. I even exchanged some witty Twitter banter with the SFUO last weekend. I'm told by my good friend Nick Taylor-Vaisey (U of O Elections Bureau Presents radio host) that anyone interested should tune into the show tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. EST (3:30 for you folks in the Maritimes).

You can listen online at: http://www.chuo.fm/en/home

Cheers!
Danielle

Radio podcast finally available

Here's the link to my radio appearance from Monday: http://sfuo.podbean.com/2009/01/31/danielle-webb-on-what-stfx-did-right/

Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks Nick for uploading it :D

Cheers!
Danielle

The failure of 50.4 per cent

* this editorial appeared in the Jan. 29 edition of the Xaverian Weekly

"We're going to stick it to StFX," proclaimed an ambitious University of Ottawa Elections Bureau radio host on that campus's radio station last Monday morning.

There's plenty of praise for StFX's record-shattering voter turnout last year. Conversations with student journalists across the country confirm it: Everyone is in awe of the 50 per cent turnout feat, and their respective students' unions are scrambling to beat it — all of them failing.

For years, StFX was just like every other university across Canada, struggling to get students to vote. Students' unions were accused of corruption, scandal, over-spending, self-indulgence and the list goes on. Participating in union elections felt like trying to get the big kids to let you play ball. Disconnect was synonymous with student politics.

Last year, a strong, competent and visionary elections office, combined with an engaging executive, managed to convince almost every student that their vote mattered and that nobody was truly disenfranchised from student politics.

Democracy was alive; the gloves came off and for the first time in student union history, we gave a damn.

But last year's efforts will all be in vain. The enthusiasm and engagement of last year are virtually non-existent.

Compare the number of posters that campaigns have raised across campus. Compare the number of buttons, advertisements and discussions. Compare the major issues on the lips of every student. How many people are even aware of the election, let alone who's running?

What about the simple fact that not a single Senate or senior class president candidate has been announced? Or, that the union’s chief returning officer resigned on Tuesday, claiming things are too disorganized?

On the heels of a landmark campaign that raised StFX's profile across the country, when the eyes of student governments from coast to coast are upon us — we seem destined to disappoint.

Last year's vote handed this year's executive the confidence of most students on campus. All they had to do was keep relations on par and who could fault their work?

But things haven't been on par and union-student communication, or lack thereof, has been the biggest factor.

Take Drive U for example: This was one of the better, more plausible ideas that came out of last year's election. It was one of the first promises the new president and vice-president followed through on, and they even managed to sign a deal with a grocery store in town that got students discounts.

But it's been failing miserably because students don't even know it exists.

This election is suffering from that same lack of publicity.

I've seen two, count 'em, two posters — on 8.5 x 11" computer paper — advising students on how they can submit their names for candidacy.

The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa — largely in its efforts to beat StFX's record — put together such an extensive recruitment campaign this year that they have ten candidates running for Board of Governors alone.

Now that's engagement. It's the kind of engagement we had last year and it's the kind of engagement that's been tossed out the window this year.

Students need to know you care about them, even after you've been elected. Unless something drastic happens in the final days of the campaign, voter turnout will decrease dramatically, just like old times.

If the University of Ottawa wants a fight, we're ready to hand them their victory. Our students gave it 50.4 per cent and the union hasn't been able to even meet us halfway.

By Danielle Webb

Thanks for noticing us!

Sorry, we've been MIA, but production kind of kicks the shit out of us on Tuesday nights. I, for one, didn't get to bed until 6 a.m., but such is life. Anyways, news editor extraordinaire Kate Clark will be posting her thoughts on the candidates debate later tonight - so, stay tuned for that.

In other news, my radio appearance was just about the best way to spend a Monday morning. Nick, the host, is a good friend of mine, so we had a great chat about union elections in general and my thoughts on our current one. And of course, the question on everyone's mind: will we beat our own voter turnout record this year? I elaborate more on this topic in my editorial this week, so be sure to pick up a copy of the Xav tomorrow. I'll also post the radio segment as soon as it's available in podcast form - which, I'm told will happen on Sunday.

In the meantime, I've been very impressed with the presence of the candidates down in our lowly newsroom. We've had visits from all three of the pres/vp slates, all initiated on their part, as well as a few keen individuals eying other executive jobs. This is a major improvement from last year, when we were not consulted with once by any candidate about what we do or how we view the union-paper relationship. As an integral part of this campus and a popular source of news for many students, finding out our views on campus is probably a good idea, and not just because we think we're right. As student journalists, we observe. You guys complain to us, write in to us and let us know what's going on across this campus, so we've gotten a pretty good idea of the kinds of things you're looking for, as well as the things that piss you off. And knowing that next year's executive is realizing this, really makes me hopeful for the future.

Anyways, I think that's enough from me. Stay-tuned for Kate's debate update and be sure to check out the issue tomorrow for more coverage of the campaign.

As always, be sure to send us your feedback. We always love to hear from our readers - whether its good or bad!

Cheers!
Danielle Webb

A radio adventure

Catch Xav EIC Danielle Webb in her radio debut on CHUO Ottawa tomorrow morning, Jan. 26 at 7:15 a.m. EST. She will be talking about student union elections: what it's like covering them, how they are operating these days, and StFX's impressive voter turnout last year. Stay tuned.

You can listen online at http://www.chuo.fm/en/home