"I am not interested in an election. There is not much difference whether I vote or not."
   There has been an election on the 2014 Chonnam National University (CNU) General Student Council (GSC) and General Female Student Council (GFSC) from November 26th to 28th. The voter turnout for the 2014 GSC and GFSC was 53.61 percent and 55.99 percent respectively. This result shows that only about half of the CNU students voted for three days. Last year was the same. The election was extended for two days which is the maximum extension to vote. The total turnout of 2013 G(F)SC election was 55.32 percent and 55.7 percent respectively. At least, the turnout was slightly higher than this year's voter turnout.
   Every year, the election committee says that they are trying hard to increase students' interest in the election and to boost voter turnout by using interesting election campaigns. So this year, I kept an eye on the election campaign. I saw the committee members handing out promotional materials for the 2014 G(F)SC election campaign, attended a public hearing on G(F)SC’s policies, etc. The committee also distributed a discount coupon for movie tickets to raise the voter turnout. But still, the result of the election was the same as above.
   Is it all the committee and the candidates' fault for the students' low voting rate? Maybe partly, but it is down not only to them. There are some parts left for CNU students who try not to be responsible for 'their' university. When I, as the Head Student Editor of the Chonnam Tribune, attended the public hearing held on November 21st, there were few students to hear the candidates revealing their future plans for CNU and students. A few students showed their interest but they left soon because of the cold weather. About the distribution of materials for the election, most of students got them and threw them away immediately without a glance as they do with leaflets. Then, students just complained that all the candidates are the same whether they belong to the activist group or not.
   It is really interesting to me that people say they do not want the candidates as their representative and then they do not vote. Surely, it is possible to vote against them if they want to. If students think of themselves as an appropriate future president of the CNU student union, they can run for it. We should exercise our rights or nothing will change as we hear frequently during the presidential campaign for the Blue House.
 

By Pyun Ja-seong, Head Student Editor