2008 Woodie Awards
Collegian View - Low turnout for ASSMC elections
Issue date: 3/14/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Last week the Associated Students of Saint Mary's held the elections for next year's student body officers. The Collegian and the ASSMC have been working to ensure that as many students as possible were not only aware of the oncoming elections, but also fairly familiar with the running candidates. The profiles of all the students participating in the elections were accessible in last week's issue as well as online. According to the numbers given by the ASSMC (and the math calculated by our trusty editorial staff) approximately 397 students voted in this year's elections.
There are about 2,500 undergraduate students enrolled at Saint Mary's. Minus the 600 or so seniors that can't vote, that still leaves the other 1,900 undergraduate students who are given the opportunity to take part in the elections. An approximate 20 percent of students turned out to vote. Granted, this coincides with the national average as well as the past SMC election results, however, at such a small school, we at The Collegian wonder if perhaps we should strive for just a little better than average. Saint Mary's prides itself in its communal atmosphere, in its ability to capitalize on its small size by promoting a close community.
Since the ASSMC elections moved online, voting has become much more convenient. No longer do students have to fish out their I.D. cards, wait for the student working the table to find and highlight their name in the pages-long list of undergrads, and fill out the ballot sheet. Students can now vote with (literally) a mere click of the mouse. And if searching for the online ballot was too much of an effort, Vice-President for Administration Laci Jackson '06 also sent two emails to students reminding them to vote, including the link to the ballots.
With all these improvements and enhancements to make the voting process so much more convenient, we wonder why there aren't just a few more students taking the two minutes out of their lives to make a difference for next year. We understand that we're all busy, and we're sure you can all imagine a million other things more important than voting in the campus elections. However, we also must acknowledge that this is our school, and the ASSMC officers are appointed to essentially maintain the voice of students at Saint Mary's. They make decisions that can directly impact the student body that we're all a part of. If they can make such efforts in order to benefit us, can't we do our part to show we care about what's going on?
There are about 2,500 undergraduate students enrolled at Saint Mary's. Minus the 600 or so seniors that can't vote, that still leaves the other 1,900 undergraduate students who are given the opportunity to take part in the elections. An approximate 20 percent of students turned out to vote. Granted, this coincides with the national average as well as the past SMC election results, however, at such a small school, we at The Collegian wonder if perhaps we should strive for just a little better than average. Saint Mary's prides itself in its communal atmosphere, in its ability to capitalize on its small size by promoting a close community.
Since the ASSMC elections moved online, voting has become much more convenient. No longer do students have to fish out their I.D. cards, wait for the student working the table to find and highlight their name in the pages-long list of undergrads, and fill out the ballot sheet. Students can now vote with (literally) a mere click of the mouse. And if searching for the online ballot was too much of an effort, Vice-President for Administration Laci Jackson '06 also sent two emails to students reminding them to vote, including the link to the ballots.
With all these improvements and enhancements to make the voting process so much more convenient, we wonder why there aren't just a few more students taking the two minutes out of their lives to make a difference for next year. We understand that we're all busy, and we're sure you can all imagine a million other things more important than voting in the campus elections. However, we also must acknowledge that this is our school, and the ASSMC officers are appointed to essentially maintain the voice of students at Saint Mary's. They make decisions that can directly impact the student body that we're all a part of. If they can make such efforts in order to benefit us, can't we do our part to show we care about what's going on?