Student Groups Back on the Ballot
The Void and Queer Concordia to Appeal to Students for Fee Levy
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Students will be able to put their two cents in—literally—at the ballot box when it comes to fee levies for Queer Concordia and The Void, as both groups were reinstated by the Concordia Student Union for the upcoming election.
“It was a good feeling when I woke up this morning and looked at the CSU elections website and found our referendum question there along with [the others],” said Queer Concordia member Joey Donnelly. “We were quite pleased with that.”
Both groups had gotten their applications to appeal to students for fee levy status approved by Council, but were informed by Chief Electoral Officer Oliver Cohen that they would be stricken from the ballot due to not being incorporated as non-profit organizations 25 days before the vote.
Both groups had that deadline extended to the date when the ballots were printed by council, but Cohen was not made aware of this due to an error in the minutes taken during the meeting. A letter from Cohen was read out loud at Council in a successful bid to set the record straight on what would be expected of the two groups.
“A special note has to be made to Cohen, a great deal of gratitude for writing that very thoughtful series of motions that pertain to us and The Void magazine,” said Donnelly.
The Void’s editor Cole Robertson was unable to attend the CSU meeting, but was informed by one of his colleagues of what occurred.
“Our staff member Jack Allen told them that once we handed the petition over to them—which [was taped by] CUTV video—it’s not our responsibility, at which point the students who were there for Morgan Pudwell’s resignation burst into applause,” said Robertson. “Essentially, the CSU just [decided] to accept the petition, because I don’t think they can hold us responsible for getting another since they lost ours.”
Although Robertson was not in contact with the CSU to confirm The Void’s eligibility, their name is up on the CSU’s election website, and he noted that Cohen “seems to be fine with everything.”
While both groups are happy to be back on the ballot, they still have another fight ahead of them—convincing
students to vote for the levies, which will each cost every undergraduate student two cents per credit.
“We’re just confident we’re going to run a good campaign, and hopefully prove to students that improving sexual diversity is an important thing, along with safe sex,” said Donnelly.
Robertson shared his optimism.
“We’re only asking for two cents. We’ve been around for a long time, and we’re the only bilingual magazine. I think there are a lot of good reasons to vote for us, and I hope that everyone does come out to vote.”
