Staff Editorial: BOE not off to a great start

Staff Editorial: BOE not off to a great start

The Johns Hopkins News-Letter · September 9, 2004

For an institution historically replete with controversy, the Board of Elections (BoE) is already in mid-season form after delaying the most important election of the year.

StuCo has been operating without a president for the past several months. Rather than hold an election at the start of the school year, the BoE decided to wait until the second week of October in order to increase voter turnout. According to Director of Student Involvement Jeff Groden-Thomas, the StuCo and Student Activities Commission (SAC) have been operating smoothly, with Vice President for Student Life Brian Drolet and Vice President for Entertainment Nurain Fuseini taking over the responsibilities of president. No major crises have arisen; in fact, StuCo has already hosted a successful club night.

The fact that StuCo has been lucky enough to avoid any important administrative decisions the past several months does not excuse delaying the presidential election until the second month of school. The only valid reason for such a delay would be to increase voter turnout among freshmen, but freshmen are not even allowed to vote in this election. Although StuCo says it's operating just fine without a president, what does this say about the most important leadership role of the student body?

And more importantly, what does this say to prospective freshman officers, who hope to make a difference for their fellow students? By operating without a leader, StuCo is diminishing the role of president and setting a miserable example for its future leaders. By carelessly shrugging off an election that should have been carried out swiftly and fairly, StuCo is fostering apathy rather than doing its job of representing student interests and bridging the gap between the student body and the administration.

The BoE has had three months to plan a simple runoff election. Instead, they have allowed the problem to drag on far too long. Rather than motivating freshmen to get involved, the BoE is sending them the message that student government is ineffective and useless. This is nothing to say of the disrespect and discourtesy it shows Soren Gandrud and Hyder Syed, the two candidates who have already waited months for a resolution to a problem that they didn't even cause.

Sadly, last year's failed elections set a bad precedent, and this fall's delays are a discouraging sign. The prospects for an effective and fair election look bleak.