Carleton’s Rideau River Residence Association council approved a three-person electoral team in its Jan. 17 meeting as it prepares for executive elections in March.
At the meeting, RRRA president Jaden Slawter also reported details of this month’s student government lunch. According to Slawter, Carleton president Benoit-Antoine Bacon said the longer the university waits to make a decision on whether the fall 2021 semester will be online, “the better it will be.”
Chief electoral officer Frederic Diebel said the biggest change to the election process this year will be the inclusion of independent candidates. The association voted in November to temporarily allow students to run without a slate.
Diebel said the electoral team will aim to make it easier to run for an executive position, because there are fewer students in residence this year.
Third-year Maggie Grant and first-year Simon Harris will serve as deputy electoral officers.
While RRRA has not previously hired three electoral officials, vice president (administration) Sash Mahara said the association anticipated more work required to run an online election.
Mahara also said Abstentions, the convenience store in Residence Commons, will remain open through the provincial lockdown because it is exempt from the restrictions.
Slawter said the association has hired a new finance team after its operations manager left last semester.
According to Slawter, renovations of Glengarry House are now complete and all windows can be opened.
RRRA is planning a Black History Month in February and a new mental health campaign, “Residence Rise Up.” The campaign will feature councillor testimonies and author Jesse Thistle as a guest speaker.
