Malaspina University-College Elections
The brand new Malaspina Students' Union website declares that the elections would take place on March 7, 8, and 9 for a number of different positions. The Electoral Committee would consist of General Manager Stephen Beasley, Director At-Large Kim Granneman, and General Member Melanie Vogels. Said committee would delegate their responsibility to a Chief Electoral Officer, whose name is unknown. Since that was almost a month ago, one can only presume that the non-presence of the results of this election on the MSU website are simply due to administrative delays.
The presence of staff and directors on an elections committee has historically been problematic. The 2005 General Election of the University of Victoria Students' Society was marred by accusations that Joanna Groves, then UVSS Chairperson, ought not to have been the Chairperson of the UVSS Elections Committee due to her partisan campaign activity on behalf of the Putting Students First slate. Similarly, the 2005 Kwantlen Student Association election was marred by complaints failed against the KSA Chief Returning Officer and several members of the KSA Elections Committee, on, among other reasons, the grounds that they, being staff of the KSA, had an interest in the election.
Of course, the Malaspina Students' Union Elections Committee does have a third member: General Member Melanie Vogels. One would presume that out of the presumably large number of General Members, at least one of them could be found who has no potential entangling links with student politics. Unfortunately, such a person was not found. Vogels has a long association with student politics, as a contact person for the MSU in 2004, as a current member of the Malaspina Education Council, as a member of the Malaspina Board of Governors in 2004, and as representative of the North Island Students' Association in 2002.
Let be be perfectly clear: I am not saying that Beasley, Granneman, and Vogels are partisan hacks who are out to ensure that their favoured candidates win the election. All I'm saying is this: it's generally not a good idea to have current or former staff, directors, or candidates in charge of your election, if only to avoid the perception of impropriety.
Fortunately, we know who won the elections, although not the names of their competitors, since the results are published in The Nav, the MSU-produced and controlled student newspaper.
The brand new Malaspina Students' Union website declares that the elections would take place on March 7, 8, and 9 for a number of different positions. The Electoral Committee would consist of General Manager Stephen Beasley, Director At-Large Kim Granneman, and General Member Melanie Vogels. Said committee would delegate their responsibility to a Chief Electoral Officer, whose name is unknown. Since that was almost a month ago, one can only presume that the non-presence of the results of this election on the MSU website are simply due to administrative delays.
The presence of staff and directors on an elections committee has historically been problematic. The 2005 General Election of the University of Victoria Students' Society was marred by accusations that Joanna Groves, then UVSS Chairperson, ought not to have been the Chairperson of the UVSS Elections Committee due to her partisan campaign activity on behalf of the Putting Students First slate. Similarly, the 2005 Kwantlen Student Association election was marred by complaints failed against the KSA Chief Returning Officer and several members of the KSA Elections Committee, on, among other reasons, the grounds that they, being staff of the KSA, had an interest in the election.
Of course, the Malaspina Students' Union Elections Committee does have a third member: General Member Melanie Vogels. One would presume that out of the presumably large number of General Members, at least one of them could be found who has no potential entangling links with student politics. Unfortunately, such a person was not found. Vogels has a long association with student politics, as a contact person for the MSU in 2004, as a current member of the Malaspina Education Council, as a member of the Malaspina Board of Governors in 2004, and as representative of the North Island Students' Association in 2002.
Let be be perfectly clear: I am not saying that Beasley, Granneman, and Vogels are partisan hacks who are out to ensure that their favoured candidates win the election. All I'm saying is this: it's generally not a good idea to have current or former staff, directors, or candidates in charge of your election, if only to avoid the perception of impropriety.
Fortunately, we know who won the elections, although not the names of their competitors, since the results are published in The Nav, the MSU-produced and controlled student newspaper.
Labels: victoria
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