Seventy-six students applied for 48 spots in the House of Student Representatives. It would be great to think that 76 students applied. However, there are more applications than applicants because candidates can apply for multiple positions.

Some students may see this as an advantage, but campaigning for multiple positions could wind up hurting the candidate because it could split the vote in favor of one candidate across different constituencies without guaranteeing success in any one of them. It may also confuse voting students to see a person’s name three times on the ballot.

While allowing candidates to apply for multiple constituencies may not be ideal, some constituencies get more candidates than others. Those constituencies may not even be able to attract enough candidates for all available seats, so students applying for more than one constituency may help curb this problem if a student loses one candidacy in one constituency but wins a seat in another constituency.

However, the fact that a student can apply for more than one constituency should be better publicized in the future so all applicants have the chance to apply for whatever they want.

News editor Libby Davis for the editorial board.