This year’s student elections process saw significant increases in voter turnout compared to last year’s elections. Just under 35 percent of students voted on the honor sanctioning options referendum this year, compared to the under 20 percent of students who voted on last year’s three referenda. Elected positions in Student Council all saw increases in voter turnout by a few percentage points. The increase in voter turnout is promising, as it suggests increased engagement with student government. In searching for ways to capture even greater voter turnout, the University Board of Elections, or UBE, should consider making voting mandatory for students.
To account for students who do not wish to participate, UBE should create an opt-out voting system. The transition from an opt-in voting system to an opt-out system would increase vote counts while still keeping apathetic voters from influencing election results to a great degree — for example, an apathetic student forced to participate may vote antagonistically, but an opt-out system would prevent this situation. For those who would take the process seriously, an opt-out system ensures that their opinions are represented by limiting the number of students who do not vote because they forget.
The University can enforce mandatory voting by penalizing students who do not vote or opt out through blocks on student NetBadge systems. In the fall of 2013, the Honor Committee created a mandatory module to educate students about the “philosophies and processes of the Honor System.” It enforced completion of the module by limiting students’ access to University emails and Collab pages. Perhaps UBE can pursue a similar system of enforcement if it were to institute mandatory voting. Logistically, UBE could create an initial voting deadline, after which students who have not voted would face a penalty such as limited NetBadge systems access before a second and final voting deadline.
Of course, higher turnout is not the only problem that the student body faces with elections. Voter apathy is an entirely separate issue. But the primary benefit of instituting mandatory voting for student elections is that it is the easiest way for the University to address problems with low turnout in the voting process. The cultural shift needed to make more students care enough to vote takes much more time and is more difficult than a mandatory opt-out voting system. For now, UBE should consider implementing such a system as a quick and easy solution to low turnout in student elections.
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