Students to be in charge of UM campus election
THE upcoming campus election in Universiti Malaya (UM), slotted for March 4, is set to make history by being the first ever in a public university to be run fully by a committee comprising only students.
The pioneering Campus Election Committee (CEC) 2019, which consists of 19 student leaders from various backgrounds and fields of study, were mandated by UM’s vice-chancellor in November last year to reform the campus election rules and to conduct the upcoming campus election.
CEC will have full autonomy to administer the upcoming campus election as a check and balance for the university.
Its president, Vanessa Eunice Scully, a final-year student from the Faculty of Law, said the main reason behind the establishment of CEC is to engage more student participation in democracy, empower students to take on the lead and be more responsible, as well as advocate healthy competition among students when campaigning.
“Besides the operational aspects of the campus election, we looked into students’ concerns and opinions in past elections, to draft out new electoral rules and regulations for the purpose of the upcoming election,” she said.
Among the key amendments that will be implemented is to switch the voting method from e-voting to paper ballot for better transparency. Another key amendment is to have eight general representatives covering the whole campus in the next student council, as opposed to the previous practice of having representatives based on designated zones.
The committee will also allow candidates to run in groups as coalitions under a common logo, as long as they avoid any sensitivities.
“We have made efforts to ensure the clauses in the electoral rules and regulations were properly amended and to be improvised in ways that we can.
“Most improvisations have been channeled to benefit students who plan to participate in the upcoming campus elections. “Our preliminary preparations include workshops, student engagement both online and offline, a townhall session, recruitment of secretariats and engaging with the administrators,” said Vanessa.
CEC has also been engaging with the Elections Commission to get advice on best practices in standard operations procedures for the electoral process.
Vanessa highlighted the commission advised the committee on what actions should be taken and what to avoid as well as on election tools and logistics, particularly in the vote casting process.
All in all, she said the committee is confident to make the campus election a sucessful one, “one that upholds the students as the paramount consideration in the spirit of democracy”.
“I do hope other universities shall begin to open its gates in allowing students to not only run an election but to be involved in decision-making processes. As varsity students capable of making our own decisions and policies, I believe that we should even have our own senator in the executive body of our country,” she said.
For the campus election at UM, nomination day was held on Feb 25 with campaign period kicking off on the same day at 8pm ending at 11.59pm on March 3. Election day will fall on the following day.