The upcoming University of Winnipeg Students’ Association byelections are expected to get a little heated.

Chief elections commissioner Jennifer Myles expects that more than a few of the 10 available director positions will be contested. Myles said student interest in the positions is greater compared to last year’s byelections, in which six director positions were unfilled. She thinks this increased interest will result in better voter turnout.

UWSA president Jason Syvixay said having contested positions makes things more interesting for students.

“You see a greater increase in votes and voter turnouts when there are more candidates running for a position,” Syvixay said.

While some students may be more politically engaged with the UWSA this year, many students were unaware the byelections were taking place.

“I didn’t even know they were happening,” said Laura Kunzelman, a third-year U of W creative communications student. She believes the reason why so many students don’t vote is due to indifference. “I think a lot of it comes down to student-voter apathy.”

There is no mention of the byelections anywhere on the UWSA website.

Even with the increased interest in the director positions, there is still a possibility that some of the positions won’t be filled.

Myles suspects that if any positions were left empty after the byelections, they would likely be the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) liaison director and the graduate student director positions.

“I don’t know if people are aware what CFS actually is,” she said, adding that the graduate student director position is new this year.

Syvixay said it is crucial to the board and to the student body that all 10 positions are filled to create a fully functioning board of 20 directors.

“Just to be able to conduct business we need the attendance from a certain amount of directors and ... then we will be able to fully represent all the students on campus,” he said. “[By] having those directors in place, you can make sure that the UWSA is doing their job, and that is to provide services for students.”

Voting will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday Nov. 23 to Thursday Nov. 26. Results of the byelection will be posted the morning of Friday, Nov. 27.

Published in Volume 64, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 19, 2009)