University of Virginia Library

Not Again?!!!

It seems that we just get finished with one
election and another has already begun. In
fact, at times there are so many going on at
once with the Honor and Judiciary
Committees, the First-Year Judicial and
Legislative Councils, Alderman, Engineering,
Nursing and Architecture Design Councils,
Observatory Hill Councils, Association of
Residential Councils, Student Council and on
and on with such a proliferation of posters,
platforms and candidates' pictures plastered
to every available place of wall-space around
the Grounds that a student eventually throws
up his arms and gives up the vote in utter
confusion.

Today begins yet another one of those
election campaigns with 45 candidates vying
for positions on Student Council, Judiciary
Committee and the Senior Class. Once again, if we can
judge at all from past experience, the student
will be inundated with the usual trite slogans,
empty catchwords and horrifyingly vague
platforms. Beaming candidates and their
lackeys will canvass the dorms shaking hands,
grinning, "Hi, how's it going?" with promises
to return soon. And as usual with all this
obvious disruption and bother, the voter
turnout will be disgustingly small. With the
student's right to peace and quiet squarely in
mind, the Student Council Elections
Committee has in the past at least partially
acted in their behalf by restricting dormitory
campaigning to four hours, and then only on
week nights. This is definitely a step in the
right direction since over-zealous campaigning
has a tendency to antagonize the voter,
consequently restricting the vote of all
candidates not just those guilty.

The Student Council recently moved one
step further in the right direction with their
designation of a campaign poster base price
list applicable to all candidates. This new
ruling does not "preclude candidates from
getting labor and/or materials donated and/or
discounted," as the regulation officially
states, but it does place a limit on the total
number of posters which a candidate might
distribute.

What this new ruling thus in effect does, is
1) keep the candidates honest by closing the
loopholes to a heretofore frequent disregard
for the campaign expenditure rules which
have at times unfortunately rewarded the
conniving, the sneaky and those with inside
connections and punished the faithful and
honest; and 2) keep the proliferation of
paraphernalia to at least a practicable
minimum from which the voter can hopefully
make some sense and not become
intimidated, offended or confused.

Hopefully, the campaign ahead will remain
free from slander, vicious rumors, scandal and
ridicule which we have witnessed and been
forced to report in the past. We are convinced
that there are some candidates for the various
offices who do have serious intents,
responsible motives and above all are willing
to work.

Although the Council has yet some
distance to go with improving their election
rules, the new campaign regulations and
restrictions will, we hope, keep the truth from
becoming obscured, the voter from becoming
disenchanted and, above all, the wrong people
from being elected.