Last academic year, Temple Student Government’s Elections Commissioner Gaelen McCartney said he hoped 25 to 30 percent of students would cast their votes for this year’s ticket.
But voter turnout landed at about 12.72 percent of students — less than half of TSG’s goal.
Since then, TSG has tried to increase student involvement. One way was through Parliament, which was created to better represent students through 37 legislative seats for different colleges and special interest groups.
The turnout for this year’s TSG elections — set to take place in April — will decide more than just the 2017-18 TSG administration. This election is essential for TSG to actually accomplished its goal of getting more people involved in student government and better representing the student body. The voter turnout for this election will either demonstrate the effectiveness or the failure of TSG’s outreach.
This year’s Elections Commissioner, Noah Goff, said there will be voting booths in the Student Center on April 4 and 5, and members of Parliament’s Election Committee will be present to answer questions. This is a far more involved strategy than last year’s online-only voting method.
“We’re hoping it’ll be a good reminder, especially for people who know the elections are going on but don’t necessarily know how to vote,” Goff said.
We hope students will vote in the upcoming TSG election, because student government decisions impact students’ lives on a daily basis.
As students, to see change on Main Campus, we have to help create it.
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