At a school which champions student self-governance, the fate of the University's election process may have to be decided by the Board of Visitors if not enough students cast their vote in this fall's upcoming election.
November 11 and 12, students will be asked to vote for a series of referenda concerning constitutional changes related to each school and the creation of the new University Board of Elections.
Though the Student Council constitution does not stipulate a minimum turnout for regular elections, the constitutions of the Fourth-Year Trustees and the Engineering Student Council are ambiguous enough to generate differing opinions on whether they require a minimum turnout to ratify the new election process.
Any organization that will be governed by the UBE, including class councils, school councils and the Honor and Judiciary Committees, must ratify this process in order for there to be full implementation.
Past fall elections have shown a general apathy among the student body, however, and many organizations on Grounds are concerned that too few students will cast votes in the upcoming election.
John Rodney, student member of the Board of Visitors, said he expected voter turnout to be low in the election because the issues at hand -- electing school representatives and deciding on proposed constitutional amendments -- are not ones that spark much interest or publicity among the student body.
"In an ideal world, everyone would come out and vote," he said. "The reality is that the fall elections are not that popular."
Rodney emphasized that the Board of Visitors wants the decision to be left in the hands of students.
"This would definitely be a last resort," he said. "The Board wants this to be taken care of by the students."
Will Sowers, Student Council vice president for administration, said the lack of voter turnout is a major concern. He said many student organizations are coordinating "get out the vote" efforts to encourage students to partake in the election.
"This is more effort than has ever been done before for a fall election," he said.
Gavin Reddick, vice chair of sanctions for the University Judiciary Committee, said many measures are being taken to increase voter turnout, including fliers and e-mails.
Reddick said word of mouth also is important in generating interest in the election.
Council Elections Committee Chair Bryce Galen echoed Reddick's sentiments.
"Low voter turnout is always a threat to the quality of government," he said. "In an effort to underscore the importance of the referendum on the ballot, as well as ignite interest in student self-governance, this fall's provisional Elections Committee will be staging one of the most extensive 'get-out-the-vote' publicity campaigns in University history."
In the absence of a "highly charged environment" for the fall's election, Rodney emphasized the importance of advertising to encourage students to vote.
"The time to start advertising is now," he said.
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