AMS prepares for winter elections with Simply Voting

AMS and FacSocs hope for stronger voter turnout with upcoming elections

Image by: Nelson Chen
Voting begins on Jan. 29 for the AMS executive election.

With the winter executive, society, and referenda elections on the horizon, student leaders are calling for a boost in voter turnout to ensure broader student engagement.

Simply Voting, the platform used by the AMS for elections, special general assemblies, and by other student governments like the University of British Columbia Alma Mater Society, has experienced technical issues in the past. During the Nov. 18 Special General Assembly, students who missed the platform’s five-minute voting window caused multiple voting rounds. This was due to the initial version of the motion being sent to students before amendments, necessitating a re-send of the ballot.

READ MORE: First Special General Assembly of the year sees multiple motions debated

Despite past concerns, the platform will return for the upcoming AMS and faculty society elections and referendums.

In an interview with The Journal, Secretariat Sylvie Garabedian, explained many of the issues attributed to Simply Voting are more often “logistical or due to other issues as opposed to the platform itself.”

“There were some issues with voting in person with the iPads. Those reports came from the External Affairs Office this past summer, between May and August, and I worked closely with IT to troubleshoot, and what we found the issue wasn’t the platform itself, but it was the iPad,” Garabedian said.

Garabedian said one of the benefits of Simply Voting is its security, adding for faculty-specific elections, they can restrict voting to only those in certain faculties to ensure a correct vote.

“Our systems [are] connected with the University’s, you have to log in with your Net ID, and it verifies that you’re a Queen’s student when you vote, so it’s pretty secure, and it’s used for all elections and referendums on campus,” Garabedian said.

Garabedian also spoke to past turnout, claiming the past few elections turnout has been the highest they’ve seen in the past few years, with the 2024 Winter referendum garnering about 20 per cent and the 2024 Fall referendum seeing about 12 per cent.

She added that the Fall referendum has consistently seen lower turnout compared to winter referendums, which is something they tried to bring forward as an issue to the Assembly at the last two meetings, but both times the meetings were adjourned before they could discuss this matter.

Moving forward, Garabedian mentioned how the AMS is planning to look at ways to increase voter turnout this election season, adding campus culture can play a role in election turnout.

“We want to take a hard look at what marketing has been done, what has been successful, what hasn’t been successful. I think election turnout is part of a larger campus problem of student engagement. People want to vote if they’re engaged with student government, so it’s not just a solution that the elections team can offer,” Garabedian said.

The voting days for the winter AMS executive election period will take place Jan. 29 and 30.

In a statement to The Journal, Commerce Society (ComSoc) President Sagaana Sivathason, Vice-President (Student Affairs) Jillian Weatherby, and Vice-President (Operations) Ashton Seebaran, all Comm ’25, explained their experience with using Simply Voting in the past, echoing positive statements made by Garabedian.

“While there were hiccups during AMS Assembly, our experience overall has been positive. We understand that any voting platform is bound to experience challenges periodically due to the unpredictable nature of technology,” they said.

When it comes to the upcoming ComSoc election, the team noted they’re eager to meet their successors but didn’t have any significant concerns regarding the voting platform. However, they specified an aim for more voters, stating they’re actively pursuing engagement efforts to have a strong voter turnout for this year’s election. ComSoc election voting takes place on Feb. 1.

The Journal contacted the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society to speak on their experiences with the platform but were unable to respond, citing the busy election season.

Tags

AMS, Elections, faculty societies, Simply Voting

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