So, as you say, the students would not usually have the right to decide who should be appointed as President since it is not a democratic process as such, any more than it would be to appoint any faculty member, or a member of canteen staff.

It's an interesting idea about access to methods of developing control over appropriate emotional responses.  Many Deaf aquaintances who are heavily involved in campaigning, tend to be extremely aggressive in how they put their view forward.  I'm articulate enough with speech that I rant verbally at someone/something until I've vented on everything I want to get across.  If I didn't have fluency with spoken language then that probably would revert into physical aggression, I've certainly seen that in young deaf children when they become frustrated and can't communicate what they need.  I've seen it in deaf adults too.  

Another thing to bear in mind is that gestures that hearing people would consider to be rude are a part of sign language eg flapping your hand in front of someone's face to make them pay attention, or shaking their shoulder or preventing someone from turning away if you haven't finished talking.  It doesn't surprise me that the emotional outlets will tend to be more physical for Deaf people.

Ad astra per aspera