Silent majority: only six per cent of students vote in by-election

Last Friday’s SAC by-elections saw a record number of students vote-six per cent.

The by-elections were to fill spots on the SAC board of directors, as well as two vice-president spots on the SAC executive. Dylan Rae was elected as VP Student Life, while Gengiz Seyhun was voted VP for the University of Toronto at Mississauga.

Howard Tam, SAC VP University Affairs, said “it was a fairly quiet election considering the positions being decided.” The other positions, on the board of directors, included representatives for OISE, the Music faculty, Nursing, the Transitional Year Program, two spots for Woodsworth College, six spots on the UTSC Board of Directors, and two spots on the UTM Board of Directors.

The by-election also included a referendum on whether the U of T Women’s Centre should receive a levy increase. The increase was denied in a close vote of 695 in favour of the increase to 733 against.

Tam said that the high turnout-in previous years, by-elections held at this time of year attracted only a few hundred students, versus more than 2,000 this year-was a result of the large number of positions up for grabs.

“It definitely increased the turnout,” he said. “For us, candidates are the best promotions for elections themselves. More candidates increase the overall turnout.”

Gengiz Seyhun, Vice-President Elect for UTM, agreed that “the turnout was quite amazing-compared to other years, it’s been the biggest turnout, especially for a by-election.” He also said that students had a clearer understanding of the issues and the candidates because there were fewer of them now than during the free-for-all that accompanies the spring elections. “During regular elections,” he said, “students can feel overwhelmed.”

There were some election oddities; the Transitional Year Program (TYP), which has only 58 students in it, had seven candidates running to represent it-in other words, 12 percent of the constituents were running as candidates. The winner, Tichoana Maxwell Matabvu, won with 22 votes. The voter turnout among TYP students was an outstanding 85 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, the Nursing faculty had only two candidates: Andrew Blinn and Anya Lis. They tied with just one vote each, so the position will be decided with a coin toss next week.

There were several acclamations, including Bryan Timm, who will be the new rep for OISE, Shannon Emmet who will represent the Music faculty, and two UTM Board of Directors positions were given to Jason Mohyla and Rob Rivers.

The results of the by-election were announced at 7 p.m. last Friday night in the UC Junior Common Room. Most candidates were not in attendance, but Tam said that “there was the usual cheering and hooting after we announced the winners. People were fairly civil.”