Elections: What and Who Decide the Winner?
Next week, UGMSA will head to the polls to elect a new crop of leaders. As with every election season, campaign posters will flood our timelines, manifestos will be shared, promises will be made, and conversations will fill lecture halls, wards, and WhatsApp pages.
Some positions are fiercely contested. Others may have candidates running unopposed. Some candidates come into the race with an impressive record of service, while others rely on fresh ideas and a compelling vision for the future.
Yet beyond all the campaigning lies a simple question:
What really decides who wins an election?
At first glance, the answer seems obvious. We would like to believe that the best candidate always wins. The one with the strongest ideas. The one who has worked the hardest or the one who has served faithfully.
But elections are rarely that straightforward.
Track Record: The Weight of Past Service
For many voters, a candidate’s previous contributions matter. They look beyond campaign promises and ask a simple question: What has this person done already?
Candidates who have served on committees, organized programs, represented students, or consistently shown commitment often enter the race with a degree of credibility. Their work speaks before they do.
However, a strong track record does not automatically translate into victory. Achievements only influence voters when they are visible, understood, and appreciated by the people casting the ballots.
Vision and Policies: The Promise of Tomorrow
While some voters focus on the past, others are more interested in the future.
They listen carefully to manifestos, proposed projects, and plans for the association. They want to know where a candidate intends to lead UGMSA and how they intend to get there.
A compelling vision can inspire confidence. Yet voters are often not just evaluating ideas. They are assessing whether the person presenting those ideas has the ability, commitment, and leadership capacity to bring them to life.
Popularity: The Familiar Face Advantage
Like it or not, familiarity matters.
Students are often more comfortable supporting candidates they know, have interacted with, or have heard about through friends and colleagues. Visibility creates a sense of connection, and connection can influence trust.
Popularity is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes people become popular because they have genuinely served others well. The challenge is distinguishing between popularity built on substance and popularity built simply on visibility.
Campaigns, Flyers, and Social Media
Election season would not be complete without campaign materials.
The posters, videos, graphics, slogans, and social media posts may not directly win votes, but they help shape perception. They tell a story about who a candidate is and what they represent.
Good campaigning keeps a candidate present in the minds of voters. In a crowded race, that visibility can make a significant difference.
After all, people are more likely to vote for someone they remember than someone they hardly noticed.
Friends, Networks, and the “Agenda” Effect
Every election has its campaign teams, loyal supporters, and enthusiastic advocates.
Some may jokingly refer to them as the “agenda boys” and “agenda girls.” Regardless of the label, these individuals often have considerable influence.
Recommendations from trusted friends can carry more weight than official campaign messages. Conversations in classrooms, hostels, the wards, and WhatsApp groups frequently shape opinions long before voting day arrives.
Sometimes, the most influential campaign does not happen on a poster. It happens in a conversation.
Personality and Presence
Leadership is about more than qualifications.
Voters naturally pay attention to how candidates communicate, engage others, and carry themselves. Confidence, humility, authenticity, emotional intelligence, and approachability can all shape perceptions.
People are often asking themselves a simple question:
“Can I see this person representing me?”
The answer to that question may influence voting decisions more than we realize.
The Ultimate Decider: The Voter
Interestingly, elections do not only reveal the strengths of candidates.
They reveal the priorities of voters.
When results are announced, they tell a story about what the electorate chose to reward. Was it experience? Was it vision? Was it popularity? Was it visibility? Was it relationships? Or was it the desire for change?
Every ballot reflects a value judgment, and collectively those judgments determine the outcome.
So, What and Who Decides the Winner?
The truth is that no single factor decides an election.
Not popularity alone.
Not policies alone.
Not flyers alone.
Not friendships alone.
Not beauty alone.
Elections are shaped by a combination of service, ideas, relationships, communication, perception, timing, and voter preferences.
The candidate campaigns.
Supporters advocate.
Friends influence.
Opponents compete.
But ultimately, voters decide.
And in doing so, they reveal not only who should lead, but also what qualities they believe leadership should embody.
So I ask;
Dear reader, what will influence your choice?
