Call for electoral reform at University

A student organisation has proposed a new system of electing members to the University Students Council (KSU) to ensure the students' voice would not be monopolised by one political group.

Social democrat organisation Pulse said the system in place was resulting in more than three quarters of students not bothering to vote.

The annual elections, in which 11 members are elected, are usually held by the end of March, using the First Past the Post system. In other words, teams propose members for every post available and the 11 people to get the most votes get elected.

"This system results in a winner-takes-it-all situation whereby those who fail to form part of the majority will fail to nominate a representative," Pulse president Tyson Fenech said.

This, he said, was because most voters tended to cast block votes depending on their political views, rather than selecting the people best suited for each role. This resulted in "wasted votes", because the team that gets the most block votes tends to win all the positions.

Mr Fenech gave the example of what happened last year where a coalition of student organisations called ACT received 46 per cent of the votes but ended up without any seats.

The election was won by the Christian Democrats (SDM), which have been in office for the past three years.

Pulse is proposing that seats be distributed according to the percentage of votes each team wins, similar to the way the local council elections work.

This would also mean the student who wins the most votes would automatically become president. As part of its campaign Pulse published an analytical report on the present system and the other options available to students.

Mr Fenech said he hoped this would spark a discussion in which the proposal could be refined as necessary.

When asked if he also wanted the system to be implemented in Junior College, where Pulse has a stronghold, he said the same reasoning would apply.

"If the proposal suits the reality of junior college and an agreement is reached with all parties involved we have no objections to implement the system there as well," he said.

Meanwhile, SDM dismissed the proposal as simply a popularity contest that would not enable the council to be effectively administered by a well-constructed team.

SDM pointed out that candidates should be chosen based on their qualifications for particular roles.

"The proposed electoral process is simply more convenient for Pulse, rather than more representative.

These proposals are dangerous in that they are intended to cater for the aspirations of this one organisation, and not for those of the whole student body."