Time for students to vote again
The Central Student Association (CSA) held an emergency board meeting on March 20 to pass a motion allowing for a winter 2017 by-election.
This upcoming election follows the recent general election which concluded with vacancies on the board of directors and no president for the executive.
“There were a lot of questions around whether the CSA can function with a four exec structure rather than the five that we’ve been working with for the past several years,” Student Senate Caucus representative Lindsey Fletcher told The Ontarion regarding the decision to hold an earlier by-election. “That was one of the things that really drove me to bring this motion forward and to open up the election to new nominees to try and fill that president position because it’s the top of the exec hierarchy, below the board of directors. It’s obviously very important for that role to be filled.”
Other than the president position, the board of directors is looking for candidates for the Ontario Veterinary College, the Ontario Agricultural College, the College of Business and Economics, the College of Arts, and the College of Physical Engineering Sciences.The CSA has released the timeline for the upcoming by-election on its website and social media accounts for the public to access.
The nomination period for candidates intending to run for president or a postition on the board of directors will conclude on March 24. Following a meeting with the chief electoral officer and the assistant electoral officer, candidates will have until the all candidates forum on March 29 to prepare their campaigns.
The voting period for the by-election will begin on April 3 and conclude on April 5, which is during the final week of classes for undergraduate students, posing additional challenges for the by-election.For an individual to be elected during a by-election, 10 per cent of the CSA membership must vote in order to reach quorum. Even though the recent general election saw a 21 per cent voter turnout, Fletcher is aware of the difficulties in getting students to cast a ballot, especially during the final week of the semester.
“I think that one of the biggest things is that people are like, ‘We just voted—why are we voting again?’ We are really pushing the importance of having these roles filled.”
The board of directors, as the highest authority in undergraduate student government, should have all seats filled so that they can properly do their job.
“We need a full board to function,” said Fletcher.“That’s really important—so each student can have someone that’s representing them or multiple people that are representing them.”
Fletcher said the CSA will be using a variety of strategies to engage with students for the by-election, including utilizing social media, LISTSERV, and sending out emails to each of the colleges letting them know which director positions are currently vacant.
Once the by-election has concluded and the results have been announced, the candidates who have been elected for their respective positions, whether as part of the board of directors or executive, must be ratified by the current board of directors for the CSA.
Photo by Mariah Bridgeman/The Ontarion.