LAST SPRING, ten elections were decided by less than ten votes.This spring, as always, every vote matters.
If you are reading this column and have not yet voted in the university student elections at UVAvote.com, please take a few moments to cast your votes.However, if you are a regular reader of The Cavalier Daily opinion section, you were probably one of the many students who voted as soon as the polls opened last Wednesday.If you did, I applaud you for your active participation and hope you will use your enthusiasm to encourage your fellow students to vote as well.
Talk to your friends, your classmates, your colleagues, your brothers and sisters, your captains, your acquaintances, your neighbor, strangers on the street, that cute girl/guy in your discussion section.E-mail them, call them, instant message them, poke them on Facebook (but please do not stalk them).Ask them to make up their own minds by doing their own research on the Voting Guide or provide them with recommendations.Do what you can to ensure that everyone around you has voted.
In recent years less than half of all students have voted in the annual spring elections.Self-governance cannot sustain itself with a majority of stakeholders watching from the sidelines; we all know that democracy is not a spectator sport.It is time for students to step up and take on the ballot for those five, ten, maybe fifteen minutes.
However, the responsibility of sustaining self-governance does not lie with student voters alone; the candidates who are elected leaders and representatives this spring must show the relevancy of their positions to the electorate so that we do not fall into a cycle of blame and apathy.Too often we hear from students who have no idea what their elected leaders do, let alone the qualifications they should be care about while voting.It is up to the elected leaders to show students what they do throughout the year, not just in the two weeks leading up to elections every spring.
Voting in annual student elections is the extent to which the majority of the members of our University community engage in large-scale civic involvement.Indeed it is this group of students -- those who are least likely to vote -- from whom we need the highest participation in order to ensure the strength of our system of self governance.
Yesterday, The Cavalier Daily printed a retrospective about the spring 2003 elections and the despicable and hateful alleged assault on Student Council presidential candidate Daisy Lundy.Few students today realize that the University Board of Elections was created after the unfortunate events that spring because of the need to restore confidence to the student body that we the students are capable of administering fair and free elections.
The UBE has come a long way since our first meeting that chilly winter afternoon.In three short years, the small but committed groups of unbiased individuals who served on the board, with no vested interest in the outcome of elections, have introduced reforms in almost every area, with transparency, fairness, accessibility, and participation as our top priorities.We have sought to ensure that the right of students to represent their own issues and elect their own leaders is preserved for the next generation of University students.
But we still have a long way to go.For the first time this spring, the UBE is conducting a survey of all voters to identify areas for improvement; we have already received a great deal of helpful feedback from hundreds of students and look forward to sharing the results with you all when they become available.
Many students vote to support particular candidates running for office.Some vote to support or oppose the referenda on the ballot.Many others vote because they believe in the power of student self governance and its ability to make a difference in the lives of students not just today, but for those who will come after.
The UBE is completely in agreement with the sentiment The Cavalier Daily shared in yesterday's lead editorial encouraging all students to, above all, "vote for student self-governance."We would like to add, however, that we also encourage all students to encourage other students to vote as well.
Steve Yang is the Chair of the University Board of Elections.
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