The Student’s Administrative Council’s election campaign period began just yesterday, and there are already more than a few changes that U of T students will notice this year.
Mainly, there’s a lack of opponents.
In the executive division, five of the six positions are uncontested, as well as the majority of elected college and professional faculty positions. This is a drastic change from the six slates of students that competed for the jobs last spring.
The only executive seat for which there is more than one person running is that of chairperson, the position formerly known as president, but recently renamed.
SAC is treating the high number of uncontested positions very seriously.
“During the summer, the board was able to introduce yes/no ballots for the executive positions,” explains SAC VP of University Affairs Estefania Toledo. This system keeps SAC accountable to the students who are voting, versus a system of acclamation.
If the student population is opposed to the election of a specific candidate, and votes no, that candidate will lose, and the board will appoint an interim stand-in who will remain in the position until the fall election.
This yes/no ballot implementation caused the election committee to abandon ROSI this year in favour of physical polling stations. The yes/no format did not work on the student website, and the university was unwilling to modify the site to accommodate this new format. Though SAC officials cite this development as unfortunate, it may have a silver lining.
“There is no indication that using ROSI increases [participation],” said SAC president Paul Bretscher. “In fact, over the course of the past few years, referendums and elections that used paper ballots generally increased voter turnout.”
The name ‘president’ was officially changed to ‘chairperson’ at this year’s Annual General Meeting, due to “a strong belief that the name of president reflected a position with veto power, arbitrary authority, and superiority,” said Toledo. “Our students’ union president never had greater power than the rest of the executives…The president’s primary role is to act as the spokesperson for our organization.”
Jen Hassum, who is currently SAC VP External, was voted in last year on the “Progress” ticket which swept the election, and remains with the same slate this year hoping to nab the chairperson position. She suggests that the explanation for the low number of candidates lies in the workload and dedication seen within the current executive.
“This year, if you put in a 50-hour week, you would likely feel guilty for not working hard enough,” she said. “I think many student leaders simply didn’t want the commitment.”
There is also speculation that a year with less scandal means less interest in challenging elected positions.
“Last year there was the notorious Wonderland scandal (among others) and we saw six slates run in the elections,” explains Bretscher. “This year, SAC was scandal-free, and we have seen less people seeking elected office.”
Both Hassum and Bretscher strongly oppose the implication that student interest and involvement in politics is declining in a year which they claim has actually seen a sharp increase in student participation.
But Marco Fernandez, Hassum’s opposition, disagrees with the position that student involvement at U of T is high. He claims that student interest outside of academics at the university is virtually nonexistent, and said he would strive to improve the student community if he is elected.
“These years are supposed to be about more than just grades,” Fernandez says. “SAC needs to make the student really want to be at U of T.”
