Open ballots are a step in the right direction

Scott Hastie

September 22, 2016

This article was published more than 2 years ago.

Est. Reading Time: 2 minutes

The vote to change vice-president ballots opens a can of worms for the Student Representative Assembly.

At the Sept. 11 SRA meeting, the group voted to make ballots for the McMaster Students Union vice-president positions open. Under the previous system, SRA members would vote on secret ballot for the vice-presidents.

Making the ballots open is a step towards achieving the buzziest of buzzwords amongst those involved with student politics: transparency and accountability.

We have been bombarded with these words for so long, it is a surprise that anyone voted against this motion.

One of the main arguments against open ballots is that the SRA is made up of a relatively small community and there are complications that come with it.

For example, let’s say my close friend was running for a vice-president position, but I knew that another person was a better candidate. With closed ballots, I could vote for the better candidate and not be concerned about any personal fallout.

Open ballots mean some SRA members may vote in order to maintain certain friendships or relationships.

While I can sympathize with the awkward position, you should not have gotten in to politics if you did not want to make hard decisions.

And while making the ballots open is a step towards improving the MSU’s transparency and accessibility, there is still work to be done.

Those who get elected to the board of directors are generally members of the MSU bubble; they have worked or volunteered with MSU services from early on in their undergraduate career, working their way through the organization. Open ballots alone can’t pop this bubble. What can achieve that goal? Electing vice-presidents at-large.

If the SRA members want to avoid the issues associated with open and closed ballots, they can remove themselves completely by supporting the upcoming at-large referendum to make vice-presidents elected by the student population. The SRA has not been afraid to make bold statements in the past; let’s see what they do this year.