Effects of Slates on Voting Behaviours in Past UNA Elections

 Over the past ten years there have been two UNA elections with clearly identifiable slates (2012, 2014) and one with a probable slate (2017). In years with slates the voting results reflect different patterns than in non-slate years.

I was a member of a slate in both of the elections that I participated in (2102, 2014). 

In the 2012 election we organized a slate and ran against a single individual. Thus we knew that at least two of our slate would be elected. In the 2014 election there were two slates.  In both elections the dominant slate won by about two thirds of all ballots cast. In the 2014 election our 'losing' slate, while clearly outvoted by the dominant slate, also tallied a significant lead over the three independent candidates.

Through scrutineer reports at the time I can also make some additional observations. In the 2012 campaign most of the people voting for Ada Dong were plumping their ballots (only voting for her, rather than use their full three votes). In the 2014 election many voters only cast two votes, not the three they could have. Thus supporters of the Shang/Alexander slate voted just for them, while those supporting the Menzies/Craigie slate only voted for us.  We weren't able to pull as large a vote as our opposing slate and thus only one of us squeaked onto the board that time. But slates tend to corral supporters in ways that shape voting behaviour differently than without slates.

In elections that have no slates the spread of votes has tended to be more even. It is hard to see any significant gaps in the results between candidates. There appears to be a lot more voters casting only one vote (perhaps for a neighbour they know) and thus not using all available votes.  For example, in the 2019 election the individual voting results ranged from a high of 627 to a low of 245 with the top five results all fairly close. This was also the election in which the fourth ranked candidate won over the third ranked due to the local area rule.  We don't know the total ballots cast for 2019 becuase the UNA did not record that info. They only recorded individual candidate totals. I have estimated the number of ballots cast to be about 1200, but it could have been anywhere between 920 and 2700.  

Slates reveal the underlying, often unstated, campaign tactics of slate organizers.  In the city of Vancouver we have witnessed the situation in which multiple groups run short slates (not running as many candidates as there are spaces available). It creates an interesting political dynamic on those governing boards, the results of which are debatable. Some think it brings more diversity to the discussions while others suggest it restricts what can be done. I think it can do a little of both. If a single slate dominates minority interests tend to be silenced as the dominant slate controls the agenda. In multi-slate boards things can grind to a halt as one party tries to obstruct decision making or, worse I think, the board gravitates to easiest common denominator decisions.

In UNA elections slates have tended to bring more voters out. They also tend to reveal social divisions within the UNA community. They can also build connections across the differences within the UNA. In 2012 the organizing group made an effort to link differnt groups from recent immigrant residents in Wesbrook to faculty/staff in Hawthorn to retirees in Hampton around a common platform. In 2014 that unity broke down and we saw a slate based in the retiree/newcomer section campaign against a faculty/staff housing demographic. In 2017 the informal slate that succeed again linked across the three longstanding UNA demographics. 

In 2021 it will be interesting to see how a fourth, previously ignored sub-culture within the UNA is represented. Fo many years the official UNA line was antagonistic to student participation. For many years student housing in the UNA was explicitly excluded from UNA membership. With the University Boulevard housing coming on stream this situation has mellowed. Fact is there are many university students already living within the UNA as owners and renters. The current election, with four student candidates running, makes this fact clear.  It will be interesting to see how it pans out in the election results.

[This post was edited Dec. 1/21 to revise 2019 total ballots cast from 1800 to 1200]