The KSU elections

Considering the low turnout of voters for the University Students’ Council elections, I think most people do not care who was elected to KSU because they do not see them as representing them. I hope I am proven wrong and the elected members give their all to implement what they promised and make the students’ life at University better.

I think voter apathy is a case of mentality. As much as we like having rights we should see voting as a student’s duty. We should instil this more so that the people elected are really the people who should be elected.

I think there needs to be a change in the party that makes it to KSU, in this case Pulse and SDM, or there should be another party contesting the elections.

This would give the students another choice and drive the parties to work harder for the students. Having a non-politically-aligned party would also help to provide the students with more options and it would make the KSU elections less politically driven. Maria Azzoppardi, B.Ed (Hons) in Primary Education, 2nd year.

I would say voter turnout is quite reflective of the fact that students want to shape their surroundings because they would like to start having a say in what happens.

In fact, having voted myself I am quite satisfied with the results of the election. However, since there are few differences between SDM and Pulse, the majority of the students are, unfortunately, not represented in the KSU. So it would be good to have a party which consists of many student organisations. Petra Fava, Bachelor of Commerce Economics and Marketing, 2nd year.

The voter turnout is quite low compared to the number of students at University but it has improved from last year, which means the campaigns have been somewhat effective. Promotion might have helped bring in a few extra voters but personally I think it was those students who are active in both parties or who are friends of the candidates who actually voted.

From personal experience, I know that many students do not bother to participate in many events organised at University. I assume many are not interested in the running of KSU and perhaps that is why they did not vote.

I doubt whether an alternative party to the major parties in future elections would be elected as many students are themselves politically-aligned and there will always be block voters for the current parties. Tamara Caligari, B.Sc. ICT Communications and Computer Engineering, 2nd year.