Unknown source urges students to spoil UMSU election ballots

According to some, it’s “too bad” that the distributor of the anti-UMSU election posters did not run instead

Chelsea Moore staff

“Tear it up, eat it, or just write ‘spoiled’ on it,” is just one of many lines written on the anti-election posters that have been mysteriously strewn up around the University of Manitoba campus, and campaign staff are not happy.

“I think it’s too bad that whoever made these posters felt that they needed to go to this length to try and express their views around the election and around UMSU,” said Amanda Aziz, the president of U of M’s student union.

The posters, which mysteriously appeared on Feb. 27, asked a series of questions like, “[d]o you feel that . . . UMSU does not represent your interests? [That] campaign promises are made out of ignorance of how things actually work?”

It then suggests that if the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes ‘, one should join others and “. . . send a real and clear message by spoiling your UMSU ballot this election.”

Caitlin Brown, Chief Returning Officer for the upcoming UMSU election, said that the distributor of the posters came to her on Monday morning to have the posters approved. Within an hour, however, they were already put up around University Centre without consent.

“Everybody should have a fair chance of expressing their views about the election and issues,” said Brown. “The only thing that struck me as kind of unfair was that all the candidates got their materials in on time.”

At other universities, these types of activities are often propagated by sanctioned joke slates.

The UMSU election will take place from March 1 to 3 this week, with only two candidates running for president.

Aziz noted that whoever put up the “spoil your ballot” posters should have used other means to get their message across, like taking part in the election process.

“Anyone is free to run in the election, and this would have been a good one to throw your name into, seeing as how there weren’t very many candidates,” added Aziz.

Brown agreed, adding that, “[i]t looks like they really care about the issues.

“It’s too bad that they didn’t come forward and run, because that could have been more interesting and more productive for them,” said Brown.

Almost as fast as the posters were put up, they were taken down by campaign volunteers, due to complaints.

“They’re on top of candidate’s posters, and they were also not approved by any of the buildings,” said Brown, adding that, “they’re in contradiction with some bylaws too.”

Aziz replied that she would “contest” a statement on the poster which hints that UMSU merely fights with the university rather than working with them.

“Just by virtue of our different associations and our different constituencies that we represent to work for,” said Aziz, “there will be times where student’s voices and the administration’s voices are different.

“I think that the student union exists to stand up for students, and if there is a time where we feel like student interests aren’t being served,” said Aziz, “then yes, that is the time that we need to stand up and make that clear to the administration.”

She added that “countless” projects have been undertaken with UMSU-administration cooperation, including in the area of food services.

“To me, this poster was kind of a contradiction,” said Brown.

“In some ways it was kind of promoting this anti-vote rhetoric, and everybody should have their opinion on the process, but on other parts of the poster it looks like the person was taking a position on certain issues.”