Students should vote in Student Association elections with careful consideration. But before students can cast their ballots with a well-rounded perspective of all the candidates, both recognized and write-in, SA must do its due diligence to publicize the fact that its elections are in full swing.

The polls for SA elections opened on Monday and will remain open until Thursday. Full-time undergraduate students can cast their ballots on their MySlice accounts. Considering the dismal attendance at campaign events held in the past week, it’s uncertain how well-informed students truly are about the candidates running for SA office.

On Sunday, write-in running mates AJ Abell and Jon Dawson held a town hall meeting and three students attended. The same day SA hosted its election forum and only one student was in attendance. The event that had the largest turnout was the National Pan-Hellenic Council’s debate that was open to all candidates, and about 30 students attended the event.

There were 14,352 full-time undergraduate students enrolled at SU in the fall semester. When approximately 0.20 percent of the student body is present at the best-attended event pertaining to the SA election, it suggests disinterest in the ongoing election.

This should not be the case. The SA election is an important opportunity for students to have a say in the leadership of the university. It would be a shame for students to make this election a popularity contest and not consider the impact this election will have on the upcoming academic year.

According to its mission statement SA, “strive(s) to create a university community where the needs of students are met, the rights of students are represented, and the voice of the students is heard.” Students who are not informed about the candidates’ platforms are making a mistake.

As of 5 p.m. on Monday, 8.7 percent of the student body had cast their ballots. Last year’s voter turn out was a record high of 31 percent of students, but SA should not be satisfied with such low voter turnout. In the upcoming days, SA should push to publicize the election and encourage students to vote.

This year’s candidates represent many diverse groups on campus and a record high voter turnout could be in the cards, but only if SA works harder to inform students about the election.

Published on April 13, 2015 at 11:58 pm