The 24th Vassar Student Association (VSA) elections went well: the first female VSA President in five years was elected, the South Commons have their first president in two years elected on schedule and there was an overall sense of torch-passing. There were, however, several issues to be found in the election process along with a lack of major competition.
Many candidates ran unopposed—which is disheartening as it shows a growing sense of apathy about student government leading into a year with major significance for the College.
While it is fine to have limited competition—such as two candidates running for the same position—it is disappointing, especially in the case of my class, 2011, to find only one candidate running for in the elections for Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
The election process itself, although more effective than those in years past, had what I would consider some major glitches. For House positions—President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and class representatives—Student Fellows and House Student Advisors were for nearly a day unable to vote for over a day due to the fact that they were not on the room draw lists for the coming year.
Although it makes sense for elections to be based on room draw lists for logistical reasons, this glitch nearly prevented many people from voting for the people with whom they would be working on house teams in the upcoming year. One personal issue that I have with the voting process is that juniors who are going abroad in the fall—like myself—are not able to vote for House positions.
I understand that this is based again on issues of room draw, but upon e-mailing the Board of Elections about the issue I was told it had been fixed; however, it was not.
At the end of everything, I was still unable to vote for House positions—which, for example, very possibly could have made a difference in Jewett. The race for Class of 2011
Representative of Jewett was too close to call at the results party and eventually came down to two votes.
While it is unfair to speculate how the outcome would have differed if those of us going abroad in the fall were able to vote, the overall situation is nonetheless decidedly unfair. Why is it that juniors going abroad in the spring can vote, but those going in the fall are left out? Why is it that graduating seniors are able to vote but those of us who will be on campus next year are excluded?
The VSA should look at this issue and see what can be done to fix it. The election system as it stands is broken, and for next year, someone needs to review the voting procedures to make certain that every representative on Vassar’s campus is elected fully by the constituency that he or she will represent.
While it is not similar to the Al Gore-George W. Bush or Al Franken-Norm Coleman scenarios—and while a recall or re-election is not necessarily in order—we cannot let our representatives be elected based on those who have chosen to leave this campus in the fall and those who will remain.
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