Why you need to vote in student elections

Graphic by Jamie Mere

When voting federally, provincially and municipally us, as young people, hear the same thing repeatedly: make an informed vote, or that our vote matters.

This logic does not just apply to voting for our governments every four years but also voting for student leaders every school year.

With the Laurier Students’ Union (WLUSU) elections currently happening, I think it is super important to vote for the individual that you believe best reflects the goals of the students currently enrolled in the school.

I’m sure you have already seen people boothing in the concourse or the posters around the Laurier campus of people promoting themselves as wanting positions that are a part of the Students Union.

I’m also sure you have also seen numerous people posting the candidates on their Instagram stories, showing their support.

Voting in the WLUSU elections is very important as it gives students a voice to try and make the whole university experience better.

Both the Brantford and Waterloo campuses are tight-knit communities and the decisions that are made by these people at the Students’ Union are supposed to reflect how the community feels regarding certain issues.

With that being said, I want to take a moment and really stress that you should be making an informed decision on who you would like to be in these positions, just like you would be doing if you were voting for a leader at the federal level.

The focus should primarily be on their platforms and what they are promising the student body. Your decision should not be based on who your friends are voting for or what dish you want to be at Wilfs the following year.

Both the president and the board of directors have a really crucial role in every student’s university experience.

The president’s main responsibility is to advocate for all the undergraduate students enrolled at Laurier, and the Board of Drectors works to ensure that the President is acting in a way that does advocate for the students and is using the fees collected by the union in an effective manner.

That being said, voting for both the President and the people who sit on the board should be weighed at equal importance, as they work so closely together.

Laurier also runs the election through a ranked-choice voting, meaning that you can rank each presidential and board of directors’ candidate depending on which platforms you relate to the most. This allows for you to cast your vote for different individuals, just not at the same weight.

As a student who pays to go to this school, it is your right to have a representative in the Students Union that reflects what you want from your experience.

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