The Death of Democracy: Why should we be blackmailed into voting?

Last night the University of Leicester Students’ Union decided to casually announce that they would be closing the Percy Gee building for the day unless 200 students voted for the next Executive Office team.

A large number of students may now have voted but since when did this type of blackmailing become acceptable?

It’s no secret that voter turnout is low in Student Union elections; only 13% of the on-campus population voted in the most recent Union Council elections but surely this the wrong way to go about things.

Can you hear the people sing

Who do the SU think they are trying to coerce students into voting? It’s not Zimbabwe.

Let’s face it, the majority of students who did vote probably did so to keep the building open, rather than actually giving a toss about who they vote for. A lot of those who took to social media to express their concern said that they would purposefully spoil votes, abstain or be voting to re-open nominations.

Did the SU honestly expect a positive response from this tactic? Whoever thought of this idea needs reminding that the Students’ Union belongs to the students. Why should we have what is ours taken from us because we don’t want to vote?

The SU responded to a few comments of disgust and tried to present themselves as on side with the voters (see below) though seemed to be missing the point as to why students were so livid. 200 votes were eventually submitted, meaning that the SU will be open today (lucky us!) yet it seems that the SU has no qualms with methods of blackmail and ransom in order to achieve these votes.

The back-pedalling was amazing though. If you fancy a laugh you just have a look at the SU twitter: @PercyGee

When the Student’s Union finally realised their idea might have been a bit ill-thought out they took to Facebook once more to ‘thank’ everyone for their comments and to say that they’re pleased we “all take democracy so seriously”! How beautifully patronising and condescending.

Exceptional Union, Exceptional Experience.

It’s not even just about this ridiculous publicity stunt. Just look at how the whole election process is approached by the SU.

Their idea of engagement is coercing people into voting by withholding important University services. The idea that people don’t know what the SU does for them in ludicrous, most people are in there multiple times a week.

Whoever thought up this master plan literally sat down and decided that closing up SU services until enough people voted was the best way to improve voting. Imagine if Dave did that in the next general election? It’s the sort of tactic your parents would use on you when you were little, no TV until you wash the dishes.

The whole process is patronising and an insult to our collective intelligence. When you vote you’re given a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory and treats! (The password to get the treats is elephant by the way). I know we all like pretending were not adults but do you really need to hand out treats to us for voting? That’s the sort of thing you do for dogs or small children going for injections.

No matter what you pay for your tuition fees, whether it’s £3,000 or £9,000, the price should surely entitle you to use the facilities of the university. To have these facilities withheld from us, on the condition that we vote, is completely undemocratic and obscene.

Dissent in the ranks

There were probably a large number of students who had actually taken a mild interest in the election and were planning to vote. It seems as though those people have been put off by the grossly unconsidered marketing ploy. Congratulations ULSU.

Can you blame students for not voting though? Every year is the same; a bunch of inoffensive candidates, boring policies and annoying attention grabbing tactics to get votes. I’ve had people say to me that they deliberately vote against candidates whose names they see plastered on banners around the uni. How sad is it that people feel that way about our elections?

What’s the outcome of this whole process? Often seemingly very little.

I’m sure many of the people involved are passionate, hardworking and really want to make a positive contribution. Despite this the Union never seems to actually do very much, or at least people seem to feel that way.

People are frustrated and disillusioned by the election process and with the SU. Surely the job of the SU should be to engage students? If we aren’t voting there is clearly a fundamental problem that goes deeper than simply saying “students are lazy”.

Lesson Learnt?

There is clearly a rift between the SU and the student population; hopefully this absolute circus can be used to attempt to address the grievances. Get the SU transparently interacting with students like adults and the turnout will hopefully increase. The interest is there, it just needs to be tapped.

You could abstain, vote ron or you could go into Uni, set up a barricade, storm the Percy Gee and then the angry mob can oust Dan Flatt.