UWSA elections move into voting period this Tuesday
By Jared Pollen
Lance Writer
March 10, 2010
 With the UWSA general elections opening up their voting period this week from Mar. 9-11, chief returning officer Omar Raza has learned from past years and is looking forward to those in the future.
The main principles in the election process are fairness and communication. “We are tasked by the UWSA Council to ensure that the democratic process is being upheld,” said Raza.
He also added that “voters are informed and able to freely access the voting system.” The key of the campaign is to get students interested, and make sure that they possess the means to do so.
The first step in an election is constructing a clear set of rules to make sure that there is no confusion. The university by-laws must be simplified for those campaigning and understandable for those voting.
Electronic media has made this task increasingly easier. Social media, online documents and websites have allowed the election office to communicate with students in a much more accessible way than in recent years.
Regulation on social media has made it difficult for spreading information in past elections, but that no longer stands in the way. “What we are doing differently this time is deregulating all social media, since policing the Internet was beyond our capabilities and not benefiting the democratic process in any manner.”
The change may be a big source for future development, as the problems experienced in this election have been minimal in contrast to past years. The election office wants to make e-presence an initiative in future elections. Integration of university web-based services is planned for the coming years with hopes of engaging more with students.
The UWSA is also moving forward on their environmental policy to reduce waste like notices, posters, banners and other physical promotion. The election office hopes that this will open doors for more interactive media, while maintaining a friendly environmental position.
With these initiatives, Raza hopes that future UWSA elections will be able to engage every student in a realistic and exciting manner that will encourage involvement and help build a healthy student democracy.
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