(Courtesy of Constatin Carrigan)

Constantin Carrigan, Student Union (SU) Election Commissioner, sat down with Student Life, to discuss the Fall 2023 SU Election, his role as election commissioner, and the Election Commission’s goals for increasing voter turnout among undergraduate students. The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

Student Life: 

What role does the Election Commissioner play in the election?

Constantin Carrigan: 

My goal is setting the procedures by which we conduct SU elections. We set the rules outlined in the election packet, and then it’s just making sure the ballot is set and administering the actual back-end technological aspect. Outside of that we’re also working on a few other things in terms of increasing voter turnout through events that we’re gonna be having on campus, as well as providing voters information through a voter guide.

SL: 

How were this year’s Election Commission members chosen and what qualities do they bring to the team?

CC: 

They were chosen through a rigorous application and interview process. We sent out an application specifically for the Election Commission based on cases that we’ve had and issues that we’ve had to deal with. From there we chose about half of them to conduct an interview with, during which we asked questions regarding the actual procedures of elections and specific issues to SU elections. Then we made a determination within the Election Commission based on the responses to not only who necessarily fits with our ideas best but moreso whose analytical answers provided the most backing for the solutions they provided.

SL: 

There are three first-years on the Election Commission this year; what role will they play with helping increase voter turnout?

CC: 

They played the same role that we all do. I mean, the Commission outside of me is all on equal footing. When it comes to turnout, having a larger commission is allowing us to take on some new initiatives. For example, we’re bringing back something called SUp All Night where we have bands in Tisch Commons, food, and just have people meet their SU representatives, hang out on a late night in the DUC. We’re taking that idea and pivoting it towards the elections since we haven’t had [SUp All Night] in four years now. This year it is going to be during the last two hours of the last night of the election and end an hour after the election to ensure that people are not only having a good time but get a chance to meet their new SU representatives and vote if they have not done so yet.

SL: 

What role do you think social media, especially for undergraduates, plays in getting the word out about the election?

CC: 

It plays a massive role. We use social media relentlessly during the elections, especially when we’re trying to let people know what’s going on. Rachel [Gwon], who is one of our Commission members, is our social media person. Most of our communications come through social media outside the actual election. Then it just goes to push emails to the entire student body that has not voted yet. We see spikes, traditionally after social media posts and after those emails, so it’s entirely technology-based in terms of when we’re seeing voter turnout at its highest.

SL: 

Why is it important that undergraduates vote in SU elections, specifically in the fall election where the Executive Board is not on the ballot? 

CC: 

I think the executive elections have an air around them being like, this is going to set the precedent for SU for the next year. And well, exec certainly does do that. They set our initiatives and keep us moving forward as a collective. The legislative bodies make up a large portion of the direct hand-to-hand interactions between the students and the student government. Treasury and Senate are the ones working on advocacy and allocation projects that directly impact students. Those are the ones who are going to decide whether your clubs are getting funded or not, whether your clubs are getting recognition, and for Senate, their advocacy projects are what then go to [the] exec [board] presenting an issue. So if you want your issues to be elevated, those Senate voices are important as well.

SL: 

Could you briefly describe what the Arts & Sciences Council, Treasury, and Senate do?

CC:

Treasury is responsible for allocating the Student Activities Fee. They’re responsible for ensuring that student groups have the operational capacity to work towards their stated goals. Senate’s perspective is a little bit more advocacy-focused, it’s more ensuring that there are projects that are looking towards student betterment on campus. The big project we always highlight is the tampons and pads in bathrooms, that was a big Senate initiative. Senate’s goal is to really advocate for student interests and make those connections to ensure that those initiatives are happening on campus. Arts & Sciences Council is specific to the College of Arts & Sciences; they’re the only school election that we organize. Those positions are more specific to ensuring that Arts & Sciences has planning and activities for the members of their school and the members of the school have access to the school itself.

SL: 

What are the substantive changes to this fall’s election packet?

CC: 

I think the biggest substantive change is going to be our endorsement procedure, [which is] something we’ve been tinkering with during past elections. How do groups go about endorsing candidates and how do candidates go about securing endorsements? Part of the reason we’ve had issues with that is just there needs to be some form of verification to those endorsements. So ensuring that the student group has reached out to the candidate and asked if they’re okay with them endorsing…and then declaring that to me, just to make sure that we can keep track of endorsements and keep track of who’s getting involved in the election. 

The reason for that is we’ve had issues in the past with groups who aren’t registered with SU who don’t have a stated purpose besides simply influencing elections, [they] have gotten involved. And if your single goal is just to mess with the elections by violating election procedures that would otherwise not be able to be violated by student groups or by or by candidates themselves, that seems inherently wrong. [What] we’re doing now is a memorandum of endorsement, where the candidate and the student group will have to sign on to it and then get it sent to me. 

SL: 

You mentioned Super Political Action Committees (Super PACs); what does a Super PAC look like in the context of SU Elections?

CC: 

It’s complicated. What it’s a group that is created with the sole purpose of influencing elections. The designation of these groups is left to the discretion of the Election Commission. Anything that doesn’t fall into the categorization of Student Union-recognized groups constitutes a Super PAC. We understand there are groups that are not SU-recognized that do get involved in the elections, but their express written purpose is not to influence the elections. Those groups that we’re protecting are like MeToo WashU, which serve a very important role on our campus. We don’t want to sideline them, but also we don’t want groups being created just to solely mess with the elections. 

SL: 

What would your message to the undergraduates at the University be as Election Commissioner?

CC: 

I think my message would be: vote. I mean, please vote. A lot of times we hear a lot of backlash against SU. We hear things about supporting SU and I think the biggest way that you can change that is to vote. That’s your student body government. Each of you has a singular vote; use it. It is a 7,542 person election at its maximum. We continually get inundated in today’s day and age with the idea that your vote doesn’t matter because it won’t sway an election. But, in an election this small, it does, so be sure to get out there and vote.