Election

Note to self:
Never neglect to use my voice.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, our university held SGA Executive Office elections (President, VP for External Affairs, VP for Academic Affairs, VP for Financial Affairs, VP for Student Affairs, Executive Vice President, Executive Secretary, and the Senators for all colleges). Every year, supporters for each candidate execute serious and extensive campaigns, using every resource possible to spread the word about the person they support: chalking, posters, flyers, customized items (cups, bottle openers, koozies, t-shirts), stickers, banners on fraternity and sorority houses, and more. You get the picture.

The SGA Elections Board watches the campaigns every year to make sure each "party" is following the campaigning guidelines, which are outlined for each and every candidate who is throwing their name in the hat for whichever position they desire. This year, however, unethical campaigning happened far too often. The polls (online this year) closed at midnight on Wednesday, and there was to be no campaigning after 9 pm on that night. Instead of following that guideline, a large number of students continued to campaign, many times unethically. Furthermore, unethical campaigning did not happen only on Wednesday night--it was present throughout the entire campaigning period.

This "unethical campaigning" is only one small part of the election and the influence on voting practices, however. On our campus, a large group of students has created a way to literally control what happens with SGA elections, and even homecoming queen elections. I am not going to discuss explicitly these practices or describe the group of students who are members of this group because the most important thing to understand is this: these students only compose a small percentage of the entire student body, but their influence spans across a majority of the part of the student population that actually participates in the elections. Their influence is so strong that, almost always, their candidate takes the SGA office or the homecoming crown.

Due to the unethical campaigning that has been linked with the group of students mentioned above, many members of the student body have questioned the results of the election that took place last week. This year, over 14,000 students voted, and the winning candidate won by just 261 votes. Many members of the student body have become outraged, disappointed, and frustrated. These students believed that it was finally time for an independent candidate to take the office of SGA president, but once again, that certain group of students who have found a way to control the vote prevailed.

As aforementioned, that certain group of students only composes a small percentage of the student body on this campus. If all of the students had voted in this election, it is very possible that the independent candidate would have actually won. Our campus experiences such voter apathy...

I'm realizing that I can't just be angry with the group of students who strongly influence and control the student vote. I have to be angry with the 7,000 students who did not vote. With those extra 7,000 student votes, I'm sure that the independent candidate (who I supported) would have won indefinitely. We didn't have those votes though, and the other candidate won again.

This is all about a small, college campus SGA election. What difference is this really going to make in the world? None, really.

But for me, I'm realizing how important a person's voice really is. I've always known the importance, especially in relation to national presidential elections, but to have something hit this close to home puts it into perspective even more. I feel that I have a deeper, improved understanding now, whereas before I just accepted the belief without thinking about it any further.

I really wish others would notice the importance of expressing your voice: on campus, and nationally.