By: Elliot Fung

If you are a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in at least 18 units, you are eligible to vote in this year’s McMaster Students Union presidential election. Here is some more information about the election and how you can successfully cast your ballot.

What is the role of the McMaster Students Union president?

The president is the primary spokesperson for the MSU and serves as the representative for McMaster students to the university, Hamilton and the provincial and federal government.

The next MSU president will hold the position for a one-year term beginning on May 1, 2019 and ending on April 30, 2020.

The MSU president is also the chair of the board of directors of the Student Representative Assembly, which is comprised of the vice president (Finance), vice president (Administration) and vice president (Education).

How many candidates are running this year?

This year’s election has four candidates: Madison Wesley, Jeffrey Campana, Josh Marando and Justin Lee. More information about their platforms can be found here.

How will voting work?

The voting system will be “single transferable vote.” What this means is that, on your ballot, you will get to rank candidates in order of preference.

In particular, you will have the opportunity to rank your preference of candidate from one to four. However, you do not have to rank all candidates.

Your vote will count towards the candidate you rank first.

The candidate with a majority of total first choice votes will be the president-elect. If a majority is not achieved through the initial counting, the candidate with the least number of first-choice votes is eliminated.

However, if you voted for the eliminated candidate, your ballot still counts. Your vote will be transferred to your second-choice candidate. Votes are then recounted.

If a majority is still not achieved, the process of vote transfer is repeated until a candidate has a majority of first choice votes.

What would happen to my vote if a candidate gets disqualified?

Should a candidate be disqualified or withdraw from the election after polling takes place, your vote will still count too as long as you indicated a second-choice candidate.

In this case, your vote would be transferred to your second-choice candidate.

When does the voting period open and close?

Voting opens on Jan. 22 and closes on Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. Ballots are being sent out via email, so check your McMaster email as soon as you get the chance!

You can also vote at www.msumcmaster.ca/vote. Log in using your Mac ID and an election link will appear if you are eligible to vote.

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