On Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. campaigning for the 2011 University of Manitoba’s Students’ Union kicked-off, and on March 11 at 6 p.m. the last polling station on campus closed, about eight hours later the last ballot was counted, the results tallied and a new UMSU slate was chosen to represent students: Working Together.
With a combined total preliminary vote count 53 per cent, the members of Working Together won the 2011 UMSU election.
Working Together is comprised of Julie Rempel the vice-president (external), Justin Quigley the vice-president (internal), Nour Rashid the vice-president (advocacy), and is helmed by Camilla Tapp the president. Incumbent Matt Hepner, the current vice-president student services is also a member of services is also a member of Working Together, and will return next year to reprise his role.
“Justin, Matt, Nour, Julie and I are elated at the outcome of the 2011 UMSU
election. We have each made sacrifices for this experience, and we have all
worked hard to convey our message, so it is rewarding to see that students got
out and voted,” said Tapp when asked how her slate felt about the victory.
Tapp thanked Clean Slate and Get More, the other two slates that ran in the
election saying, “the quantity and quality of conversations that were created due
to the differences in each slate was astounding and displayed many student
concerns.”
Tapp also thanked everyone involved in the election, from candidates to volunteers
with campaign managers in-between, and the students who voted, “especially
those who asked the hard questions.”
Tapp and her slate are excited to begin their transition into office, and some of
the issues they plan to tackle are: improving student spaces across campus,
establishing a student owned and operated pub, and increasing communication
between faculties, student groups, UMSU council and the executives.
“The increase in voter turn from last year to this year is a positive sign that more
students are getting involved on campus, although there is still improvement to
be made,” said Tapp sharing her thoughts on voter turnout in this year’s election.
Based on preliminary results this year’s election saw voter turnout increase to
12.3 per cent, from last year’s 10.41 per cent. However, this was still significantly
lower then 2009’s election, which produced a 17.56 per cent turnout – the highest
turnout in the past decade.
Jason van Rooy, the chief returning officer (CRO) for this year’s
election and last ,explained that based on last year’s eligible voter membership
this year’s election turnout would have been higher. However, due to an
increase in membership only a 12.5 per cent (give or take) was seen.
“We had nearly 1000 more people come out and vote this year however, so I
think this election clearly engaged more students than the last,” said van Rooy.
When asked how this year’s election compared to last year’s election, the CRO
explained that it is not really possible to compare elections, because each one
has its unique challenges.
Van Rooy felt this year’s election was more intense though, because of the
heightened level of competition between the three slates.
Van Rooy explained that due to the competition, there were a number of
complaints, but this was to be expected with three slates running.
“We didn’t see any malicious or frivolous complaints this year between slates,
only a heightened awareness of the rules on the part of all involved.” explained
van Rooy.
“The types of complaints we saw in this election mostly comforted me in that I
knew that everyone was paying attention to the rules and despite the occasional
mistake, everyone seemed to be trying their hardest to make sure they were in
compliance at all times.”
