There’s nothing new about voter apathy—or student apathy in general for that matter—but the number of acclamations and the general lack of candidates in this year’s student government elections is disappointing. With acclamations in ASUS and CESA, nobody running for COMPSA vice-president positions and only two AMS executive campaigns (though it may be difficult to tell them apart), there isn’t much choice for students.
This year, the AMS Commission of Internal Affairs decided to shorten the campaign period from 14 to 10 days. It’s not plainly clear why this decision was made but Chief Returning Officer Ilana Ludwin said it was in order to standardize the campaign periods of students campaigning to get referendum questions ed, and students campaigning for AMS executive positions. But could the decision have been made because of disorganization? Shortening the campaign period will only breed more ignorance among the student body because students will have fewer days to get to know the candidates for whom they will be voting.
Some faculty societies have also shown a distressing lack of competence in managing their own elections. For example, at press time, the Phys-Ed Students Association still hadn’t figured out when their elections will happen. Faculty societies would benefit from having the AMS take over the managing of their elections, like the AMS did for the MCRC in 2004-05.
Maybe it’s just that most students don’t feel inspired or even affected by the AMS and other student governments. Maybe they feel they can better engage with their community and fellow students by other means. Although possibly due to a cyclic slump, this year’s more pronounced apathy could
be due to a lack of voice and leadership from team MBT. Aside from Homecoming, MBT hasn’t been especially visible or influential in any part of student life. Considering the popularity of Queen’s
Model Parliament, it’s suprising there’s not more interest in student politics.
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