The Martlet

The UVic Students’ Society election campaign leaped into the blogosphere last week with the launch of the controversial Vote Smart UVSS blog.

The site, which was launched mid-campaign on March 1, offered commentary of all the slates’ platforms, but was especially critical of incumbent FAST candidates.

The person behind the blog, who remained anonymous until after the election, is fourth-year physical education student Andrew Allen.

“I thought that the more information out there the better,” said Allen, who twice ran unsuccessfully for director-at-large.

“The Martlet and other media can only cover so many issues, and I wanted to remind people what went on this past year and which board members were running again.”

Under current UVSS policy, which Allen describes as “restrictive,” candidates are not allowed to specifically mention other candidates in their platform.

Defeated chair-candidate Kyla Berry believes that current election policy stifles open coverage of elections, and that blogs like Vote Smart UVSS should have a place, as they give students another source of information.

“I believe the blog sprang up because the author wanted to say things that the Martlet wouldn’t print,” said Berry. “Not everyone reads the Martlet, and I think more people would be likely to look up election information if it was available online.”

While Allen claims he received mostly positive feedback, some think that the blog brought an undesirable tone to the

campaign.

Chair-elect Veronica Harrison said that while she doesn’t think the blog had much of an impact on the election, it did put forward a lot of misinformation.

“I think that the individual who wrote the blog selectively chose what to write about and what to not write about,” said Harrison.

“Team FAST and I have always believed in a positively-run campaign. We like to focus on our team and what we can do, rather than knocking down other candidates.”

Conrad Vanderkamp, the chief electoral officer for the UVSS elections, says that unless the blogger was a candidate it did not break UVSS election rules.

“We did e-mail the blog[ger(s)] to ask them, in the interest of fairness, to check their facts,” said Vanderkamp. “But, our electoral office has no authority whatsoever over what people who are not running decide to post.”

Vanderkamp said the society’s electoral policy has not been adapted to the changes in recent technology, and that it’s something the UVSS should look at in the future.

Allen says he remained anonymous during the campaign because he did not want his connection with some candidates to cause them problems.

While FAST swept the executive positions, Allen is happy with the election results because three slates have representation on the board and none have a majority.

“I think the results are really good,” said Allen.

“Three different slates got elected, which I hope will bring in more diverse views and input.”

With the election over, Harrison hopes students will move beyond whatever predisposition they had toward the UVSS.

“I really do hope more students get involved, especially with events and at the committee level, because that is the most fun and where a lot of work gets done,” said Harrison. “Also, those that choose to get involved will be much more informed about what is actually going on in the UVSS.”

Vote Smart UVSS received over 500 hits during the week of the campaign, thanks in large part to paid advertising on Facebook targeted at UVic students.

“There’s no point in writing a blog if no one’s going to read it,” said Allen. “I figured I already pay $78 to the UVSS, so I don’t mind paying a bit to get people to the site.”

Allen says that right now he does not see any point in taking Vote Smart UVSS offline.

“Every slate had some good ideas,” said Allen. “I hope students don’t forget what they were promised.”

Allen’s blog can be accessed at votesmartuvss.blogspot.com.