OPINION & EDITORIAL
Election date hurts voters
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Also by Robert Phansalkar:
- 'Think, Respect' does neither, preempts rational action (November 14, 2007)
- 'Taser this' editorial tame compared to past (October 2, 2007)
- Lawmakers' plan bigger problem than baggy pants (September 18, 2007)
- Right-wing judicial activism fault of liberal tactics (August 31, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Spring elections story misleading (December 12, 2006)
- ASM: Vote early, vote often (April 5, 2006)
- ASM: Vote early, vote often (April 6, 2006)
- Absence no excuse (March 6, 2007)
- Bush veto puts spotlight on incompetent government (May 4, 2007)
by Robert Phansalkar
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Spring break is coming up, and if you're anything like me, it's been on your mind since Jan. 22.
Whether you have planned for the relaxing beaches of the Caribbean, a week soon to be forgotten in Panama City or a week at home with the people you've long forgotten — your parents — one thing is certain: A lot of folks are going to be outside the city of Madison.
Unfortunately for democracy's sake, because of the scheduling of this year's spring break, that also means that many of the students will not be here to vote in Madison's local elections.
Consequently, it just so happens that students with a name other than Lauren Woods and Eli Judge are actually going to have something to worry about come Election Day: disenfranchisement.
Although it may seem to be a non-issue considering the low turnout for voters in non-presidential elections, much less local elections, voting remains the greatest form of legitimating our government.
In its absence, governments are able to run amok without any check on their power, which means that the university had better have a good reason for scheduling spring break over an election.
The university's policy on how and when they schedule our spring break, despite its seemingly arbitrary nature, is surprisingly something of a science.
In this year's case, in an attempt to minimize the number of student absences due to religious holidays, break was scheduled as such because Passover and Good Friday happen to occur during the same week.
The policy comes from the Faculty Senate, which makes an honest attempt to avoid conflict with the establishment clause of the First Amendment, by claiming that the policy does not "imply any affirmation by the university of the sacredness or importance of religious observances."
Sounds innocent enough, and that is probably because it actually makes sense.
The competing interests between the scheduling of an election and minimizing the number of days missed by students obviously result in some compromise when a dilemma like this year's presents itself.
Unfortunately, due to the university's scheduling and the late response of groups unaware of the new scheduling predicament until the semester's start, rescheduling this year's spring break seems a rash and likely more damaging response to this issue.
Consequently, we must ask how the university can prevent this from happening in the future and who should be charged with making the necessary changes?
As the Faculty Senate policy clearly establishes a legitimate purpose and need, it is important for the city of Madison to make the necessary changes in the future to prevent this kind of quandary from occurring.
While asking the university to cater its policy specifically to the elections does not make sense in light of the rationale underlying the existent policy, asking Madison to reschedule future elections that pose conflicts with the university's breaks is a reasonable compromise.
While most will cleverly reply to this proposal by citing the apathy of young voters, one has to wonder how young voters are supposed to get energized about an election if the city and university appear uninterested in their voting rights.
Reasonable accommodations must be made in the future to ensure that students are afforded, at the very least, a chance to vote in the elections.
Placing this burden upon the city of Madison is reasonable on multiple counts, but especially because the elections directly affect the city of Madison's officials.
Unfortunately, this is all wishful thinking for those running in this year's elections and the students interested in voting in them.
For this year's break, the university must make certain accommodations to ensure that those students who are actually interested in voting are afforded the chance to do so.
The university should take strong action to ensure that the students are given the adequate knowledge about the elections to participate in them by voting absentee.
While the university is forbidden from issuing absentee ballots, it bears, with the city, the responsibility of educating students about the means of voting available to them. After all, both the city and the university are responsible for this predicament.
Robert Phansalkar (rphansalkar@badgerherald.com) is a senior majoring in languages and cultures of Asia and political science.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 12:57am):
TRUE!
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 1:25am):
um... status quo?
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 8:11am):
I think that the author is uninformed. The city of Madison can't simply reschedule its elections. The election date is set by state statute and, as in this year, many non-city contests (such as for State Supreme Court) appear on the ballot.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 9:04am):
Hey Rob - the state of Wisconsin sets by statute the dates on which the City must hold its elections. This is UW's fault, not the city's fault.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 9:06am):
Bottom line is that the state statutes need to include a provision that doesn't allow the university to schedule holidays during elections.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 9:55am):
Ever hear of an absentee ballot?
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 11:39am):
spring breaks are set 10 years in advance so the city and the university have had a decade to figure this one out...don't pretend that this was a surprise
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 11:59am):
OMG, you'll have to use an absentee ballot?
I always vote that way anyhow since it's easier.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 12:12pm):
"Bottom line is that the state statutes need to include a provision that doesn't allow the university to schedule holidays during elections."
Yeah, THERE'S some worthwhile legislation. Based on the student turnout from any of the past elections, whether or not election day falls during a school "holiday" won't make much of any difference.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 2:58pm):
Just grow up and get an absentee ballot. You can find the applications here:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/documents/AbsenteeBallotRequest.pdf
http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=9222&locid=47
One if for the city of Madison, the other for the state of Wisconsin.
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 3:54pm):
If you're going to complain about the university not educating students about absentee ballots, why did you rely on readers to provide the information about how to get one? Are you really that incompetent, or are you just lazy?
Anonymous (February 20, 2007 @ 4:58pm):
100. MAYBE 200 students will actually fill out absentee ballots for the April election.
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