Presidentials

ter Univrsity Student Centre atrium on Jan. 24 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Amarah Hasham-Steele News Editor

Nisha Gill Editor-in-Chief

This is an updated version of the article that was published on the Silhouette’s website on Jan. 12. The article has been updated to include the names of the nominated MSU presidential candidates and more details about the Silhouette’s coverage of the election.

The start of a new semester at McMaster University also brings an important event for McMaster students: the annual McMaster Student Union presidential election.

Each year, all full time undergraduate students at McMaster are eligible to run and vote in the presidential election. The nomination period closed on Jan. 13 and there are fve candidates who were nominated to run for the position of president: Sam Abbott, Sam Bovey, Jovan Popovic, Zachary Thorne and Jeffrey Xu. The campaign period ofcially began on Jan. 15.

During the campaign period, the Silhouette will provide coverage of each candidate, including platform overviews, critiques and coverage of the all-candidates debate taking place in the McMas-

It should be noted that Sam Bovey informed the Silhouette, on Jan. 14 that he has “decided to resign from the public eye” and has declined to speak with us. As he also has no platform availble on the MSU elections website at the time of publication, he is not featured in this issue. Otherwise, candidates appear in alphabetical order by last name with an overview and critique of Sam Abbott’s platform appearing on pages four to fve, Jovan Popovic’s on six and seven, Zachary Thorne’s on pages 16 and 17 and Jeffrey Xu’s on pages 18 and 19.

Additionally, Jovan Popovic is the Sports Editor at the Silhouette for the 2022-2023 academic year. He has taken a leave of absence during his presidential campaign. The Silhouette is committed to impartiality and journalistic integrity in its coverage of the MSU presidential election. For more information, see the Silhouette’s Operating Policy on the MSU website.

Polling will take place on the online platform Simply Voting, made accessible to students by email, from Jan. 24 to Jan. 26. Between the start of the campaign period and the closing of polls, candidates will have the opportunity to campaign online and on and off campus.

Along with voting for presidential candidates, this year students will also be able to vote in referenda regarding whether students should continue to pay fees for McMaster Solar Car, Engineers Without

Borders and Hamilton Street Railway.

Both EWB and McMaster Solar Car are funded by annual student fees under Bylaw 9, which allows for non-university, non-MSU groups to receive funding. The funding for McMaster Solar Car goes towards the construction of a solar-powered car. The funding for EWB goes towards a fellowship, awarded to one McMaster student each year. Currently, students pay $1.11 each year to fund McMaster Solar Car and $0.41 for EWB.

The HSR bus pass, which costs students $232.94, allows all full-time undergraduate students unlimited access to the HSR, from September to August of each year. Every three years, the contract between HSR and the university is renegotiated and students vote through a referendum whether to continue paying for the bus pass.

The campaign period for the referenda is between Jan. 15 and Jan. 26 and the polling dates are also Jan. 24 to Jan. 26. During the campaign period, MSU members can make campaign teams in support of or against each issue. Students can register to be part of a campaign side, making them campaign side representatives. Campaign sides can use resources with a fair market value of up to $200 for their campaigning.

Currently, representatives from EWB and Solar Car have formed campaign teams on the “yes” side of the referendum and zero campaign teams have been formed on the “no side” in either referenda.

More information about MSU elections can be found on the elections website and their Instagram.