Y U SU pointless?

With the YUSU election campaigning period underway once again, campus is awash with battered cardboard signs proclaiming ‘change’ and ‘progression’ for York’s students.

However, this year just 39 candidates are standing for election – down from 55 in 2012 – with seven positions uncontested and one, the Racial Equalities Officer role, drawing absolutely no nominations. It begs the question: are elections steadily losing importance? Do we care anymore?

Last year’s campaigning period was something of an anomaly. Seven candidates for President was the most YUSU has ever seen and this brought in the highest number of votes ever. Don’t expect that trend to continue though – with fewer candidates, more students will see the irrelevance of the elections and voting numbers will inevitably decline.

For the 2013 elections, the favourites are obvious – with two incumbents re-running, as well as a couple of college chairs spreading themselves amongst the full-time positions, there are obvious candidates who your money should be on. The number of ‘truly’ contested positions is fairly limited. By no means should you vote for these candidates because of this, but the point still stands.

Meanwhile, most of the part-time roles either have just one candidate running, or are held for positions that barely provide the student representation that YUSU promises.

Sheffield’s SU is currently considering the option of introducing an ‘Ethical and Environmental Councillor’ position; an idea that was swiftly opposed due to doubts about who the officer would be representing. YUSU should be adopting a similar attitude to their part-time roles, and the lack of competition seen in many of the positions shows this.

The odd lazily placed poster should see even the most average of candidates through their election and as long as the student population is not widely insulted or disgusted by them, you can pretty much guarantee having a Part-time Officer role on your hands.

Sadly, last year’s First Impressions Survey chose not to question students about their knowledge of YUSU’s part-time team, but it is safe to assume that, notwithstanding the increasing acknowledgement of Sabbatical Officers by newcomers, students still simply do not know, or care, about most of the functions that YUSU aims to fill. Only 64.8% of new students believed that they were even a member of their union – and if you are unaware of even being a member of an organisation designed to represent you, what chance do you have of voting in its elections?

Hollow pre-election promises from candidates who do not need to prove their worth in the absence of opposition, aside from the unpromising image of Ron Weasley on the results’ night screens, are not what students at York need, and are unlikely to have an impact on the majority of York’s student body. Comparing this year to last, we have a toxic environment – one in which candidates standing for roles with little real influence or representation are likely to be stuck in the same old rut of carrying on as their predecessors have.

Of course, the worst thing any new employee can do is to simply continue the work of the person before them.

Unfortunately, this year’s elections look set to be less interesting as well as potentially producing some disappointing results in the long-term; although, I very much look forward to the candidates proving this view wrong, both in terms of vote counts and their own abilities to live up to their claims.Students still have their chance to save this year’s vote by getting involved with the various hustings events, helping out with candidates campaigning and challenging them all – even the unopposed – on their claims and policies. The structuring of YUSU and the representation it does or does not provide can only be blamed so much.

Ultimately, this year’s elections have a lot to live up to, Taylor’s triumph in 2012 alongside the high voting numbers set the bar high. The increased marketing and promotion can only do so much. Change is needed, and with so many candidates promising it on their posters, one can only hope it comes sooner rather than later.