On November 29th, 2019, a student election was held at CBNU from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Last year, students had to visit the polling places to vote on ballot papers. However, this year, the election was held online. The online election was conducted for the first time, and the voters were given a link to vote by text message. Voters could participate in voting after validating their ID number through that link. Most of the students got the text message, but, for students who didn’t receive the text message, there were 3 polling places : the first floor of the new student hall, the first floor of N14, and the first floor of the CBNU campus in Osong. There were concerns about safety problems with an online vote. However, there were no safety problems because the online voting system was performed by the National Election Commission. More students participated in the election due to the simple procedure. Specifically, last year, only 51.12% of students voted for the Student Council. However, this year, 71.84% of students voted.
  Because of the implementation of the online election, students can quickly learn the outcome of the election. 71.84% of students voted in the Student Council Election. The Synergy Campaign, with Moon Jae-yun as the presidential candidate and Park Hyung-bin as the vice presidential candidate, got 49.19% of the vote. Article 80 of the bylaws for Student Council states that the presidential and vice presidential candidates for Student Council and the Student Councils of colleges can only be elected by a direct election by the students. Also, the bylaws state that if only one campaign stands for election, the campaign can be elected only if they get more than 50% of the turnout and more than 50% of the vote. The Synergy Campaign got more than 50% of the turnout but didn’t get more than 50% of the vote. Also, as only female students have a right to vote for the female Student Council, 73.43% of female students voted. 56.54% of the students voted for the Re;birth Campaign, so the Re;birth Campaign won the election. The Student Council results for each college are as follows: Pro Campaign for the College of Commerce and Business Administration, Antry Campaign for the College of Humanities, Naeillo Campaign for College of Engineering, Feel & Fill Campaign for Agriculture, Life & Environment Sciences, Liz Campaign for College of Life Sciences, Seernergy Campaign for College of Education, Simple Campaign for Natural sciences, Fit Campaign for College for Electrical & Computer Engineering, And You Campaign for Veterinary Medicine, Pharm-a-cy Campaign for Pharmaceutical Studies, 4U Campaign for Medicine and finally the Miso Campaign for Converged Studies.
  A by-election will be held to fill the Student Council vacancy because the only candidate was defeated. If no one is elected in the by-election for Student Council, the Emergency Response Office will take on the duty of Student Council. In 2017, when the Emergency Response Office took on the duty of Student Council, the Emergency Response Office consisted of the President of the Female Student Council, the Chairman of CBNU Welfare Committee, and the presidents of each college. If the vacancy of the Student Council for 2019 remains, it may be the same as 2017.
  The key pledges of the Synergy Campaign were changing the time for the first class and implementing Cheong-chun Week. The class time change was proposed to solve the problems of rush hour and avoidance of registering for first period classes. According to the pledge, changing the time for the first class from 9:00 to 9:30 would save on commuting times. However, this pledge didn’t get a good response. Their other key pledge was Cheong-chun Week, a week of vacation after the midterm tests. It aimed to provide students time for relieving fatigue, improving willingness, exploring career paths and self-development during the semester. However, this pledge by Synergy didn’t get a good response either because mid-terms are different for some students and the students didn’t want to lose winter and summer vacation time. As a result, Synergy couldn’t motivate CBNU students and was defeated in the election.
  In regards to the results of this election, student J said, “Without a Student Council, the Emergency Response Office will be in charge of the work. The Emergency Response Office is considered to be unqualified with carrying forward the necessary work for students because it is composed of presidents of the Student Councils of each college. Even though the Student Council is necessary for students, the Synergy Campaign failed to convince the students. I feel sorry that the Synergy Campaign couldn’t satisfy the students or receive enough votes.” Student K said, “I think the biggest reason Synergy was defeated in the election was the pledges. Pledges are made to promote projects which students expect or need, but the main pledges of Synergy, such as changing time for the first class or offering opportunities for extra-curricular activities for a week after mid-term exams, received negative student opinions. I think the reason for the Synergy Campaign’s failure was losing the students’ satisfaction through their pledges.”
  Campaigns that were elected will start their work in earnest from February. Each Student Council of each college should work hard to satisfy the students by fulfilling their pledges. Also, the students should encourage the Student Councils and their efforts. The CBT hopes that all the campaigns who won will become respectable Student Councils.

By Lee Dong-ah l da39@cbnu.ac.kr
By Kim Chae-yeon l cy39@cbnu.ac.kr