Like out-of-state students were in November, students currently enrolled in the College but admitted to the Education or Batten schools are legitimate members of two different constituencies. Though U.S. election law forces students to choose a state in which to vote — as it should — the University Board of Elections changed its rules this semester to allow students to vote in both the College and their new schools. Though at first glance this change may seem to grant these students twice the representation as others, it is in fact the best possible way to grant them the representation they deserve.
Because student elections take place in the spring, students who will be starting in the Education or Batten schools in the fall are enrolled in the College when they go to vote, and the Integrated Student Information System is not capable of distinguishing them from other College students and excluding them from the College elections according to UBE Chair Alisa Abbott. UBE thus decided to allow those students to vote in College elections, and then to hold two separate voting periods for Education and Batten students after this round of voting.
The students in question are formally students in the College until the end of this semester. The student officers elected in this election will take office before then, meaning these students will be represented by College officers for at least a couple months. They are in essentially the same position as a graduating fourth-year College student, and like those graduating students, they deserve a voice in their representation, no matter how brief that representation is. If these students are to be denied a vote in College elections, fourth-year College students should be, as well — and there are few students who would advocate that view.
They also have a right to vote in their new school, however. For the bulk of the new officers’ terms, these students will be a part of their constituency, though they are currently in the College. They deserve a chance to elect the students who will represent them for roughly a semester and a half. Since these schools are far smaller than the College and typically — like the rest of the University community — have low participation in student elections, excluding an entire class from voting for their representatives shrinks the electorate significantly, meaning the group of students who elected the officers would be very different from the group of students they will represent.
Abbott said UBE noticed its policies last year denied Education students and fourth-year Batten students the right to vote for their peers. For example, other fourth-years running for Batten positions representing those schools relied on the votes of fifth-year students, since the fourth-years were relegated to voting only in College elections.
The new system is complicated — especially since even Education and fifth-year Batten students must vote in the first round of elections if they want to vote on student referenda — but it serves the interests of all students. Abbott says she is working with student leaders in the two schools to make sure their students understand when to vote.
“I’m the wrong person to ask why ISIS does what it does,” Abbott said, “I’m just responding.” UBE officers were smart to notice the problems ISIS caused with the current procedures and to find a way to solve it.
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