E-mail received from the Student Union Executive Director of Communications, Andrea Ortega.
Analysis to follow in the days to come.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our voting process, the Brandeis Student Union is implementing a new “Skip” option within our balloting system. This option was added for students to express their right not to vote without penalizing the candidates. This initiative was undertaken in response to problems with our voting system, confusion, constructive criticism by our peers, and our own frustrations.
With this new addition, students can skip and move on to the next ballot if they do not know the candidate, do not feel comfortable voting, or if they wish to exercise their right not to vote. A candidate will not be affected if “Skip” garners the most votes. However, selection of the “Abstain” option will continue to work against a candidate, and the position will remain vacant if “Abstain” gets the most votes. “Abstain” is an option intended for those who are uncomfortable with all candidates for a position. The process will be explained to students in an e-mail on Tuesday.
We believe this to be within the Secretary’s constitutional power as Chief Elections Commissioner to add the skip option to the ballot. The Constitution does not specify that any additional ballot selections cannot be added.
Please contact Todd Kirkland (tkirk@brandeis.edu) and/or Herbie Rosen (hrosen@brandeis.edu) if you have any questions/concerns.
This is a good forward step! Thanks for sharing, I don’t get these emails anymore.