Despite a disappointing campaign to recruit candidates, ASMSU is attempting to increase student voter turnout.
The university’s undergraduate student government is looking to improve on a 2.2 percent turnout from last year’s election.
However, ASMSU has run into several problems in organizing its annual election, including a lack of candidates running for vacant ASMSU seats. The elections take place March 13-15.
“(Candidate turnout) is not great,” said Charles McHugh, ASMSU Academic Assembly chairperson. “It is basically a lack of effort on ASMSU’s part.”
According to a tentative list posted on Feb. 13 by the student government, only 32 students are running for the 63 available spots.
ASMSU distributed about 9,000 petitions during recruitment events and in residence halls. But a vast majority of the petitions were not returned. Students must fill out a petition to be placed on the ballot as a candidate.
“I don’t think we had as high a number as we expected,” said McHugh, who is also chairperson for the All-University Election Committee, which organizes the ASMSU elections. “When we handed out the petitions, we expected to get back them back.
“We didn’t think they would just disappear into the abyss.”
McHugh said about 40 petitions were submitted, but eight of them were invalid because they were from last year’s election and missing a cover letter.
Also, a number of the printed petitions had only 13 lines for signatures instead of the required 15. Although the petition stated that 15 was required, students came up two signatures short.
Other ASMSU officials said the campaign’s struggles were caused by more than petition disorder.
“There was very poor planning in this campaign,” said Andrea Faes, ASMSU Student Assembly vice chairperson for internal affairs. “Planning should have started months ago. It’s unfortunate that some staff members don’t seem to care about the future of this organization to effectively plan for elections.
“As far as I am concerned, this entire election campaign was a failure.”
And Faes said the outcome of voter turnout is uncertain.
“To be honest, at this point, I have no idea,” she said.
But, ASMSU Chief of Staff Nimri Niemchak said the election effort was not a total fiasco.
“I think we did a pretty good job with what we had to work with,” he said. “It’s nothing that we can’t work through.”
Some efforts to improve voter turnout include digital voting booths throughout campus with computers set up so students can vote on the spot. But with elections coming up immediately following spring break, the student government will have little time to act.
McHugh is unsure whether any of the planned efforts will occur.
“If we don’t get those funds, we will just have to rely on a couple of
