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Student election is over and the results are in

By Michelle Poirier [1]

BELLEVILLE – The Loyalist College student government election ended Thursday and new leaders have been voted in to represent the college’s students.

Of the 11 positions in student government [2], only three needed to be filled for this year.

JD Tremblay, a second-year Construction Engineering Tech student, was elected to the post of student representative on the Loyalist board of governors [3]. First-year Business Administration student Stephen Barton ran unopposed for the position of business and management studies leader. And Olivia Millard, a first-year Business Sales and Marketing student, was elected first-year leader.

Voter turnout was higher than in last fall’s election. In 2013, 413 ballots were cast, while this year 574 students took part. Nancy Simpson, office manager for Loyalist’s student government, said that the large number of candidates running this year – there were nine each for the first-year-leader and board of governors positions – was one thing that helped raise the number of votes. Another factor, she said, was members of the student government taking a tablet around during lunch hours to show students how to vote and increase awareness of the election.

The student government offers a prize to students who vote in the election to encourage them to participate. This year a prize of $500 was offered to give students even more of a reason to vote.

Even so, only 19 per cent of the approximately 3,200 students enrolled at Loyalist voted.