Tuesday, April 10, 2007
As tomorrow’s Student Senate elections approach, we briefly and lightheartedly envy the mandatory voting laws of Australia. With small fines levied against nonvoters in national elections, they routinely garner understandably impressive turnout numbers. Alas, such an action would in America fly in the face of all our cherished ideals of liberty and freedom, elements of society we do not take lightly.
Let us take the responsibility, then, to reach similar turnout numbers of our own accord and desire to be decent citizens. Though voter turnout of 100 percent remains but a fanciful dream, perhaps our goal should merely be to annihilate the embarrassingly low totals of recent elections.
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Let us take the responsibility, then, to reach similar turnout numbers of our own accord and desire to be decent citizens.
From there, we can progress to higher vote totals through the coming semesters. In other words, let’s use the Washington buzzword of the moment: benchmarks.
Though it can sometimes seem that candidates for Student Senate want nothing more than a boost to their résumés and to see their names in mammoth neon chalk letters, most of them are genuinely interested in helping their campus and fellow students.
Further, they have invested a great many hours in this campaign, hours that could be spent on far more self-interested tasks. Senate can sometimes get a bad rap as the denizen of political science majors and future campaign hacks, but this is largely a myth. Most members are legitimately concerned about the University’s future, and enlist in the ranks of Senate to make a tangible impact.
If legions of students can invest hours in the planning, design, and execution of campaigns, not to mention the thankless hours spent in actual Senate work, can’t we reward them with 60 seconds of our time? Voting in these elections is easier than ever — you can vote online without ever leaving your home. When the powers that be make voting laughably accessible, there are few excuses for not voting in tomorrow’s elections.
Of course, the freedom to vote carries with it an implicit option to not vote, and that is your choice as an adult.
If you wish to consciously opt out of the Senate process by not casting a ballot, so be it. But if during the next year you will be affected by such things as fee increases, bus systems or textbook prices, you likely owe it to the hardworking Senate souls who mostly toil in anonymity to cast your vote. Please consider doing so.
— McKay Stangler for the editorial board.
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Comments
Editorial: Voting a responsibility
There are many reasons to vote. Student Senate not only controls all your student fees but look at what this year's Senate actually accompslihed:Increased Wireless in academic buildings all over campus, providing free Laptop check outs at the library for a week (starting this fall), and letting you vote on Safebus this upcoming election.
Editorial: Voting a responsibility
Wow, Senate gets a lot done! Let's all vote!
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