Many of the other media outlets have done a fantastic job of bringing you the latest on the news on the elections. I’ve yet to see some broader commentary on the races so I thought I would give some of that. I’m not going to make predictions or declare support but I’d like to lay out some broad themes I think that we will see, some I think are good, some not so much.

Increased Student Interest?

Regardless of which side of ‘The Debacle’ a student found themselves, it would be difficult to say that we will see a low voter turnout now. Students were certainly engaged in December as evidenced by the attendance levels at AMS meetings. As the issue distills  into late January it will be very interesting to see if the interest level is sustained or it devolves into the more pessimistic view of student politics that we are used to. Some things that will likely impact the engagement are: levels of pettiness, uninteresting policies at the fore front, ideologically based policies. If we can avoid some of these pitfalls hopefully students will turn up at the polls (now located at their desks online). The first is likely the most dangerous and probable.

An Extremely Divisive Election?

Another consequence of ‘The Debacle’ is the potential for an incredibly ‘Right-Left’ showdown. In a sense, both sides are looking for vindication through a victory in the elections. Many hacks will be simply counting the elected as either a win or a loss depending on which side of the fence they sit. Here is my initial break down of where I think the candidates will fall. This isn’t intended to outline their actual political ideals, just where they stood on ‘The Debacle’. The ‘pro-UN’ is in red and the ‘anti-UN(/pro-tuition?)’ in in blue. Joke candidates are in pink and if your name is black that means I don’t know or haven’t met you yet (so contact me!).

President
Sean Kim
Pak Ho Leung
Natalie Swift
Bijan Ahmadian

VP Academic and University Affairs
Rodrigo Ferrari-Nunes
Ben Cappellacci

VP Finance
Elin Tayyar
The Invisible Man

VP Admin
Ekaterina Dovjenko
Michael Haack

VP External
Stas Pavlov
Jeremy McElroy
Timothy Chu Timothy Chu
Aaron Palm

BOG

Sean Heisler
Azim Wazeer
Bijan Ahmadien
Nader Beyzaei
Philip Edgecumbe
AJ Hajin Hajian
Guillaume Houle
Peter Stein

Senate
Aminollah Sabzevari
Blair McRadu
Alyssa Koehn
Syed Nayef Andrabi
Miriam Sabzevaed
Joël Mertens
Nader Beyzaei
Ryan Bredin
Philip Edgecumbe
Arielle Friedman
AJ Hajin Hajian
Sean Heisler
Spencer Rasmussen
Johannes Rebane
Gary Tse
Blake Frederick

SLFS
Siavash Ahmadi
JJ MacLean – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Hillson Tse – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Aaron Sihota – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Paul Godin – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Alexander Shalashnly – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Anthony Bryson – Students for Responsible Leadership (SRL)
Kyle Warwick
Omid Atai

Thanks to UBC Insiders for the list.

Again, this is my quick once over, and it will change in the next hours/days/weeks. Initially you might think that the Blues vastly outnumber the Reds. Remember though that it isn’t the number of candidates running that matters, it is the votes. Having said that, the number and affiliation of the candidates may be an indication of the campus’ general feeling towards…’issues’ shall we say. This might actually backfire for the Blues as they see their votes split between numerous candidates with similar platforms. It will be interesting to see who stays and who drops out and how the ratio of Blue:Red candidates affects the outcome (if it does). On a lighter note I think that the following video/game exemplifies the issue and will be Geoff’s Place’s official meme for the election period:

Yes. By Marx.

Potential for Epic Failblog Submissions

This election has more potential to be hilarious than any I’ve seen in the past. Tensions are high, the media is scrutinizing like never before. I expect some awesome results.

The first of these results may already have come in: both Blake and Tim will be running on a ballot that also contains a referendum asking for their resignations. That’s pretty funny regardless of how you stand (unless you are Tim or Blake I would guess). Direct democracy ftw?

Stay Tuned!

Remember it isn’t over until the Fat Lady sings. So stay tuned to Geoff’s Place and all other VFM outfits for the latest from the down low!

Speaking of VFM it would be great to get some votes for that. Voting is open now and will continue until election day! Vote early, vote often, vote Geoff’s Place, vote now (here)!

Also note, I’ve taken on a subsidiary project to help broaden this site’s accused ‘bias’. I’m having a lot of fun with it and I hope you’ll like it when it comes online!