The Guild Offices at Murdoch University.
By Kristian Pisano
The 2017 Murdoch University Student Guild elections have been pushed back later than usual, with the election period right on the eve of November exams.
The elections are normally held in September or early October, but the 2017 election has been shifted to start on October 23.
An anonymous post on the highly-followed Confessions at Murdoch Facebook page stated, “Guild Elections have been set much later this year as the current guild wants to milk their control and run elections in the lead up to exams meaning less competition. Not very democratic.”
Responding to the accusation, Guild President Louis Williams defended the election timing.
“This is actually due to the way the breaks are and the fact that we started later in the year. But I am out of office at the same time as the previous guild last year. So don’t worry.”
A quick survey of more than 20 students in the Murdoch University Bush Court this week found that most students did not even know the elections were coming up.
When asked if he could name the current Guild President, Murdoch University student Alex said: “Is his name Michael?”
Voter turnout at Murdoch elections is traditionally low and considerably lower than voter turnout at the University of Western Australia, despite having a similar number of enrolled students.
In 2016 350 people voted in the Murdoch Guild elections, while the recent 2017 UWA elections drew 3732 students to cast a vote.