You might have seen a person running around campus in a duck costume last week.
But did you know why?
The random duck sporting an ASMSU T-shirt was meant to promote the 2006 student elections for both the undergraduate student government and the Residence Halls Association. Although the reasoning behind the duck costume might not have been totally clear, turnout for ASMSU elections doubled this year.
Students could vote online right from the comfort of their own homes. And if that was too difficult, ASMSU supplied laptops scattered throughout campus where students could cast their votes.
And ASMSU's extra effort showed in the results of the election — well, sort of.
Although only 8 percent of MSU undergraduate students voted in the election last week, ASMSU still achieved an increase compared to last year's measly 4 percent turnout.
That's about 2,500 students this year compared with about 1,250 students last year.
Still, that means 92 percent of undergraduate, or about 30,600 students, didn't vote.
Why?
In this year's election, 23 ASMSU college representative seats were filled. There are 62 possible seats, which means more than half of our possible student government simply doesn't exist.
How are students expected to care about voting for ASMSU, when people don't even care about being in ASMSU?
Also, every student who appeared on the ballot was awarded a seat. That shouldn't lead anyone to believe that voting really mattered. No one ran against anyone, so no one lost.
We weren't choosing a representative for our college, we were merely affirming the candidates present on the ballot — that is if your college even had a candidate.
And if students didn't feel like their votes counted before, they surely didn't once they realized that any write-in candidate had to be registered before the election. Doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a write-in?
Students should feel connected to ASMSU and be able to see the difference the student government is making around campus. But that is impossible if students aren't voting for someone who will properly represent them.
Maybe if students felt like their vote could actually make a difference, they would be more willing and eager to voice their opinion.
Also, having a Web site with pictures and information to introduce and familiarize possible candidates and representatives to students would be beneficial. Students would be more likely to vote if they felt better acquainted with prospective representatives.
Although ASMSU made it easier to vote this year, something was still lacking — an incentive.
