Last week, Carleton undergraduate students voted in five general referendum questions. Save for one, all questions won approval.
But don’t let media and blog posts confuse you with terms such as “overwhelming support,” “by large” or “large majority” as these are misleading at best and factually incorrect at worst.
While the U-Pass won approval with 75 per cent of the undergraduate vote, only 846 students, close to four per cent of the population, voted on the question, meaning only 635 students voted in favour.
Carleton has roughly 22,278 undergraduate students, according to the university’s 2010-2011 population numbers.
This means the U-Pass was approved with the direct support of about 2.9 per cent of the undergraduate student population — hardly “overwhelming.”
This also means the question received fewer votes than the number of signatures the Carleton University Student Association (CUSA) needed to be put on the ballot in the first place.
The graduate turnout was little better, with eight per cent of the population showing up to vote.
My point isn’t to debate whether the results are valid but rather to argue that this abysmal turnout is indicative of general apathy or ignorance among the student populace.
In other words, students either didn’t care enough to vote or didn’t even know there was a vote.
Why would a student not want to vote in a referendum that directly affects their educational environment and their wallet?
While there are many reasons, one of the most popular is that the CUSA has lost its legitimacy, usefulness, and raison d’être in the eyes of students.
After years of scandal, lawsuits, corruption, and party politics on all sides of the political spectrum, students are simply fed up with CUSA.
They’re sick of having every CUSA council meeting descend into shouting matches and insults and they’re appalled when CUSA knowingly alienates huge sections of its membership in the pursuit of its own political or social agenda.
Another possible reason students didn’t vote is because they simply didn’t know there was an election.
The writ of referenda was approved by council on March 9, but many posters didn’t appear until well into the following week.
Lack of awareness and online voting, as well as limited voting time, contributed to low voter turnout.
So how can the new generation of CUSA executives and councillors regain some of the trust students may have once held in this association?
They can start by pulling out of politics.
CUSA’s purpose is to defend the interests of all Carleton students as they relate to campus issues.
Let special interest clubs deal with the politics of world hunger, apartheid, abortion, and human rights.
That’s what these groups are for. CUSA should have no opinion.
When CUSA involves itself in politics, it sows division within the student body.
Furthermore, its banning of clubs and events based on political affiliation runs contrary to the mandate of inclusiveness and open-mindedness that they claim to uphold.
Finally, withdrawing from this arena would free up time for CUSA to deal with more relevant issues including tuition fees, student space, and events.
Pertaining to referenda and elections themselves, the period between the dropping of the writ and voting day should be extended to increase student awareness.
Longer voting periods and online voting would make the process more convenient and further increase voter turnout.
Student interest and trust won’t return overnight, but if CUSA doesn’t start now, the association will continue to alienate large sections of its membership and voter apathy and ignorance will continue to grow.
