Right, so I haven’t blogged in ages. That’s not my fault though. Well technically it IS my fault, but I’m not talking technically here. The 3rd year combination of Media Studies, English and Classics is not particularly conducive to that idea of “free time” (what is this thing “relaxation” that people speak of?!). Nonetheless, I present another of my random thoughts - this time on the wonderful phenomenon that is SRC Elections on Pietermaritzburg Campus.
Yesterday on campus was “election day” for the new SRC (who the old SRC was is anyone’s guess). What this meant was that the campus lawns were covered in arrows pointing to the “polling booths”, discarded flyers and pamphlets, and candidates surrounded by their recruiting minions. It was impossible for one to quietly sit in the shade of a tree and sip one’s Cranberry juice and read short stories - annoying whistling and “hey hey bru”-’s, followed by shouting and raucous laughing, were relatively minor distractions. I was approached no less than 3 times in the space of 30 minutes by different candidates to try and gain my vote. For each I posed the following:
- What effort has your candidate made to make him-/herself known to me before now?
- What does your candidate promise to do for MY departments?
- How do I know that I can trust your candidate if there has been NO information supplied until now?
- Why should I vote for someone I don’t even know?
- Is there equal representation?
I find it bizarre that someone can approach a complete stranger and ask them to vote for a virtual non-entity. Surely it’s common sense that if you want the votes, you need to begin canvassing to a variety of students BEFORE the actual day of election? I also find it unethical to simply vote for the sake of voting - it’s a toss up in the end, I suppose, of exercising your right to vote and having a say, or keeping silent when you don’t vote.
However, in all honesty, the SRC doesn’t seem to DO anything, so whether or not I vote isn’t a particular issue for me.
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