Another season of voting

Inside the Concordia Student Union by-elections and why they matter to the community

NewsJulie Seguin — Published November 9, 2026 0 minutes

Students are also encouraged to vote on ballot items such as fee levy increases for certain student organizations, as well as on referendum questions posed by CSU representatives.

Unfortunately, voter turnout for these by-elections has been incredibly low in recent years, partly because students have not heard about them.

Raymond Prince, a first-year student in the department of liberal arts, stated that he had not heard anything about the CSU by-elections.

“It’s a shame that I’m out of the loop on them, and that so many other students are too, and don’t vote, because it’s probably through the CSU where you could affect some change,” Prince said.

Lina Elbakaye, the CSU internal affairs coordinator, and Harerta Abraha, the newly elected chief electoral officer, want to change how students hear about the by-elections. Both commented on the CSU by-elections, particularly the importance of voting and how students can become informed.

According to Abraha, by participating, students have the opportunity to vote for representatives who will do their best to meet the needs of the student body.

“By-elections would be a good time to ensure that [students’] needs are met by someone representing the student body,” Abraha said.

Elbakaye said it is not only the voting itself that matters, but how much students know about what their votes can do to enact change at the university.

“[Outreach] doesn’t really engage the students until they understand the full grasp of what it is that is going to be impacting them,” Elbakaye said.

When it comes to how students can become informed, Abraha suggested communicating with them about the CSU right at the start of their university studies.

“[Procedures are] something that could be addressed during orientation, and how [students] could have an impact,” Abraha said.

Abraha has new ideas to bring to the table, in conjunction with other members of the CSU, that could help the by-election process run more smoothly.

“Starting [preparations] early would really work to our benefit, not only in how smoothly it would go, but how much we’d be able to get in with voter turnout, because we would be able to get out the word and definitely create a lot more buzz,” Abraha said.

Students can get involved or learn more about the voting process through emails the CSU sends to university inboxes, as well as information available on its Instagram and website.

Students can vote from Nov. 9 to Nov. 11 at any polling booth or online via a link sent to their inbox. Polling booths are located in the Hall lobby and the EV basement at the Sir George Williams campus, while the Loyola booths are located in the VL and SP lobbies.