The Students’ Association Senate has once again shown its inability to run an election smoothly. In the over 20 years of Senate running these proceedings, only a handful have been flawless. Given the sheer numbers, Senate should be able to run them more effectively.
If there is any time when students expect their own government to function properly, it is in its elections. While Web-based voting is a great idea for getting students, unfamiliar with the older TelNet system, involved in their student government, it is pointless when the system fails to work. In order to show the fact that Senate can actually accomplish something, the election committee should have tested the system and provided explicit instructions on how to vote.
Despite this, Senate did an admirable job of informing people about the problem. It is a shame, however, they allowed their reputation to be further marred by not seeing it sooner.
It is no wonder that voter turnout is so low, with only 11 percent of UR undergraduates voting. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that many seats were uncontested, or completely without candidates.
The fact that even running for Senate is confusing helps ensure that people aren’t going to jump through the hoops to do so. As a result, the people already on Senate stay senators, while people who may want to make a difference are unable to. Hopefully these confusions will be addressed by the Governmental Structures Committee.
The simple fact is that people are completely disenfranchised by Senate or completely oblivious of its presence. If Senate was able to make positive differences, then people may actually desire to become involved in their own student government.
