Elections for the next McMaster Students Union president are wrapping up with polling closing on Jan. 24. As students cast their ballot this year, they are presented with five options: to vote for one of the four candidates, or to abstain. However, students should also be given the option to cast a vote of no confidence.
A vote of no confidence is essentially a vote claiming that the student has no confidence in the presented candidates and would not like any of them to act as a representative for the student. This could be due to a variety of reasons ranging from the infeasibility of the candidates’ platform points to judgements made on the candidates’ character.
While students can abstain, an abstained vote has ambiguous meaning. Although one can abstain because they feel a lack of confidence in all the candidates, abstained votes can also mean the voter feels uninformed to select a candidate, or cannot decide between equally-qualified candidates. Simply put, an abstained vote is not equivalent to a vote of no confidence.
The idea to implement a vote of no confidence is not novel. It was first proposed by Eric Gillis in 2014 when he was the 2014-2015 bylaws commissioner for the Student Representative Assembly. Since his initial proposal, the idea of a no confidence vote has been continuously advocated for by Miranda Clayton, who worked on the bylaws committee in 2014-2015 before her role as operations commissioner in 2015-2016.
Gillis and Clayton hoped to have a vote of no confidence implemented for SRA elections. As it stands, if only one person runs for a seat on the SRA, that seat is considered acclaimed by the individual. This is a consistent issue in the SRA where many seats are acclaimed. In doing so, students are deprived the opportunity to voice their oppositions or give any input into their representation.
This makes little sense. If others have to create platforms, run campaigns and be supported by the student body to obtain their seat, why shouldn’t candidates running unopposed be held to the same accountability? In essence, acclaimed seats should not exist as those seats are not truly representative of the people they are meant to represent. Instead, students should be able to take a vote of confidence on candidates running for those seats.
According to Clayton, the reason a vote of no confidence has not been implemented yet is largely due to such a change requiring major electoral reform. Ballots would have to be made to include a “no confidence” option and this would require major restructuring to the online ballot system and perhaps even changes to the MSU constitution.
Though these changes may be a large undertaking, they are nonetheless critical to ensure students are being represented properly.
The idea of a no confidence vote, while created with the SRA elections in mind, can be applied to the MSU presidential elections. If students are not confident in any of the candidates running, this is a problem that should be recognized and addressed by the student union.
I understand the risk associated in abstaining to vote or casting a no-confidence vote when multiple seats exist. In scenarios like these, it may make more sense to vote for the “lesser of two evils”. But if students truly feel that none of their options are good, they should have a forum to voice their concerns.
If the majority of voters have no confidence in their presidential candidates, this calls for drastic change. I’m not certain what sort of change this might entail. It could include holding a re-election, or changing the election bylaws to ensure candidates meet a level of standards and qualifications.
This might also be a non-issue. Perhaps students do feel confident in their given candidates. The only way we can know for certain is to allow students to have the option to vote no confidence.
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By: Elliot Fung
If you are a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in at least 18 units, you are eligible to vote in this year’s McMaster Students Union presidential election. Here is some more information about the election and how you can successfully cast your ballot.
The president is the primary spokesperson for the MSU and serves as the representative for McMaster students to the university, Hamilton and the provincial and federal government.
The next MSU president will hold the position for a one-year term beginning on May 1, 2019 and ending on April 30, 2020.
The MSU president is also the chair of the board of directors of the Student Representative Assembly, which is comprised of the vice president (Finance), vice president (Administration) and vice president (Education).
This year’s election has four candidates: Madison Wesley, Jeffrey Campana, Josh Marando and Justin Lee. More information about their platforms can be found here.
The voting system will be “single transferable vote.” What this means is that, on your ballot, you will get to rank candidates in order of preference.
In particular, you will have the opportunity to rank your preference of candidate from one to four. However, you do not have to rank all candidates.
Your vote will count towards the candidate you rank first.
The candidate with a majority of total first choice votes will be the president-elect. If a majority is not achieved through the initial counting, the candidate with the least number of first-choice votes is eliminated.
However, if you voted for the eliminated candidate, your ballot still counts. Your vote will be transferred to your second-choice candidate. Votes are then recounted.
If a majority is still not achieved, the process of vote transfer is repeated until a candidate has a majority of first choice votes.
Should a candidate be disqualified or withdraw from the election after polling takes place, your vote will still count too as long as you indicated a second-choice candidate.
In this case, your vote would be transferred to your second-choice candidate.
Voting opens on Jan. 22 and closes on Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. Ballots are being sent out via email, so check your McMaster email as soon as you get the chance!
You can also vote at www.msumcmaster.ca/vote. Log in using your Mac ID and an election link will appear if you are eligible to vote.
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By: Ryan Tse, Hannah Walters-Vida, Natalie Clark
Click on the candidates to learn about their platform overviews.
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-presidentials-2019-madison-wesley-platform-critique" color="red"] MADISON WESLEY PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-elections-2019-jeffrey-campana-platform-critique" color="red"] JEFFREY CAMPANA PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-presidentials-2019-josh-marando-platform-critique" color="red"] JOSH MARANDO PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/msu-elections-2019-justin-lee-platform-critique" color="red"] JUSTIN LEE PLATFORM CRITIQUE[/button]
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[spacer height="20px"]By Elliot Fung
The Ward 1 councillor candidates are promising a number of changes that aim to improve McMaster student life. While ideas such as support for landlord licensing and the light rail transit project can be found in multiple platforms, the candidates differ in their approach to some key areas.
With the constant rise of housing prices, affordable housing, which includes student housing, is considered a top priority for all candidates. However, there are many unique proposed methods to tackle this election issue.
Carol Lazich proposes cooperative student housing initiatives and the purchase of excess land for construction of student housing complexes. Sophie Geffros proposes that new developments be required to have 15 to 25 per cent affordable and geared-to-income units.
On the other hand, Both Ela Eroglu and Sharon Cole propose intensification and infill developments. Harrison White also supports cooperative student housing initiatives and proposes the re-introduction of rental-property based tax breaks.
Sharon Anderson proposes an increase in the number of medium density developments through zoning by-law adjustments. Linda Narducci proposes better negotiations between existing landlords, patrons and developers.
Another issue pertinent to McMaster students concerns the health and safety problems caused by absentee landlords of student rentals and education about tenant rights.
Candidates Maureen Wilson, Cole, White, Geffros and Lyla Miklos support a licensing system for rental properties that would help to ensure that tenants’ rights are sustained. They also promote educational programs for students to ensure that students understand tenant rights and what landlords are legally allowed to do.
Geffros’ plan includes a $10 to $50 fee for landlords to lease a home; in return, the city would inspect rental units to ensure they are up to health and safety standards. Eroglu proposes a different approach through a two-year pilot project in the Ainslie Wood area aimed at enforcing rental housing by-laws. Lazich proposes the implementation of stricter regulations and penalties for landlords if properties are not maintained.
Candidates Wilson, Narducci, Jason Allen, White and Anderson aim to address street and traffic safety, an issue particularly relevant to students coming to campus every day from surrounding residential areas. Some proposed plans include better enforcement of speed limits and working with the city of Hamilton to clear roads and sidewalks after snow falls during the winter.
Retention of McMaster graduates in Hamilton is another issue that Lazich and Eroglu aim to address. In particular, Eroglu proposes to attract new businesses to set up in Hamilton. Lazich proposes partnering with corporations and small businesses and providing grants to students for startups.
Moreover, some candidates are promising the launch of new services and initiatives unrelated to the most significant issues at play.
For instance, Lazich wants to introduce a number of new services concerning students including dog therapy, an Indigenous Enriched Support Program, male support groups for first years, promotion of student success programs and education programs for cannabis use.
Geffros aims to address safety, hate crimes and sexual violence in Ward 1 by creating well-lit pedestrian paths, implementing emergency poles and funding free bystander intervention training.
With this year’s large number of candidates, there is a great deal of consistency across platforms with respect to themes and topics being prioritized. But while candidates are focusing on the same issues, they diverge when it comes to how they intend to address them.
For more information on candidates' platforms:
[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/meet-your-ward-1-councillor-candidates" color="red"]VIEW ALL CANDIDATE PLATFORMS[/button]
Questions on how to vote?
[button link="https://www.thesil.ca/ward-1-voting-101-a-voting-guide-for-mac-students" color="red"]WARD 1 VOTING GUIDE[/button]
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