Ivy Rose Ball
Despite election season graphics covering students’ Instagram pages, the Drill Field remains empty of any and all future Mississippi State University Student Association officers. From senators to president and vice president candidates, the Drill Field has stood silent so far this week.
On Jan. 21, the Student Association Senate passed a bill that shortens the “active campaigning” period, barring any campaigning on the drill field until the last three class days before election day and on election day itself. As someone who ran for Student Association Vice President, I see these changes as a stark misplacement of the problems of our current election system.
After day three of campaigning last year, my voice was gone, my scalp was sunburnt and my will was tested. However, in my exhaustion, I somehow felt the best I had all semester. When I released the announcement post of my running, I watched as the likes and comment counts paled in comparison to my opponents.
Five days later, that Friday, a post from my campaign got three more likes than one from the winning ticket. We were ecstatic. We knew that our campaign was one set to lose as we were lesser known and our inner circle was a smaller group, but we knew that if we worked hard and forced a run-off, it would be possible to take the highest positions students could hold.
Our coalition grew day by day. When the smoke of election celebrations and festivities cleared, flipping 12 more votes was all we needed to force a runoff. I know that what we managed to do would be impossible with this new system.
When two candidates run together, each of their closest friends and supporters often are drawn to the cause. My running mate and I, however, were not from similar worlds; in fact, we could not have been more different. We had to work overtime to convince students that we understood their concerns and feelings about the Student Association to garner credibility. This, in my experience, is rare.
Oftentimes, those most involved on campus and in the Student Association decide who they are voting for the day that candidates are announced. We knew last year that the first day was the pit of our support, not the peak. In today’s system, if you do not garner support on name alone, the chances that students will change their minds almost a week after announcements is nominal.
The ticket I ran on would have lost last year either way, but had you cut our Drill Field days to only four, it would have been a blowout as our ability to gather votes would have been greatly hamstrung. This was also a year in which the Student Association Executive Council was holding to the long-running standard of not showing support for candidates, allowing students to be swayed only by the candidates themselves. This year, however, that is not the case.
As you walk the Drill Field today, notice the criminal amount of free candy that is no longer there, and never forget what they have taken from you.