While newly elected ASMSU representatives took their respective seats last week, Charles Beachnau did not have a spot reserved.
That is because Beachnau, who won his bid for a Student Assembly College of Agriculture and Natural Resources representative seat last month, is awaiting the results of an ASMSU special election, which is scheduled to end Wednesday.
The election is taking place because of issues that ensued with College of Agriculture and Natural Resources candidates and the All University Elections Commission before the student government’s March 20-22 election.
“Problems arose from the get-go,” said Marcia Short, a member of the elections committee and the ASMSU Academic Assembly vice chairperson for internal affairs. “Actions were made by candidates and the committee that were conflicting to people’s interests.
“This is the best way to correct all the mistakes that were made.”
But Beachnau said the mistakes should have never happened and is against the special election.
“They didn’t follow their own constitution,” Beachnau said. “Even in the procedure to remedy this, they still didn’t follow their guidelines.
“If they followed their guidelines and rules this wouldn’t have happened. I want a closure on the whole thing.”
In the university’s undergraduate student government’s Elections Code, no provisions state a special election can be conducted in the event of problems with candidates and the elections committee. Special elections are only to be used in the event of a tie.
Beachnau is also filing a complaint with the All University Student Judiciary in response to ASMSU’s actions.
“It’s getting to a point where it is really frustrating,” Beachnau said. “Because the issue has already been raised, ASMSU has shown that their system is broken. We have a responsibility to help correct that.”
But Short said the student judiciary can only make recommendations about ASMSU’s actions and holds no real authority on the matter.
Beachnau was the only name on the college’s online ballot during the first ASMSU election after three other candidates submitting petitions to run for the seat were disqualified from the election.
However, two of the candidates have been reinstated and are able to participate in the special election.
After Joe DeLong was disqualified for a lack of signatures on his petition before the first election, he didn’t receive notice from ASMSU that his name would not appear on the ballot.
That was a mistake on the All University Election Committee’s behalf, Short said.
DeLong is now included on the special election ballot along with Beachnau and Trent Hilding, an incumbent who was also disqualified, but later reinstated.
Yet DeLong said he is dissatisfied with ASMSU’s methods and the special election.
“They are making the situation more complex than it had to be,” he said.
Hilding was cited for an e-mail - containing both his name and incumbent Desiree Dinga’s on the college listserve, urging students to vote - both violations of the student government’s election code.
However, Hilding told the All University Election Committee he had no knowledge of his name being included in the e-mail and that it was solely composed by Dinga.
“I think what has occurred with their elections process shows the disorganization and lack of procedures among the ASMSU Student Assembly and the AUEC,” Hilding said.
Richard Brandenburg, associate dean for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, holds approval for all college listserve messages and affirmed Hilding didn’t know about it.
