After a postponement last week, the internal vice chairperson position on ASMSU’s Academic Assembly was filled Tuesday. But the election process sums up the lack of professionalism that has been exhibited by the group at times this year.

Caleb Marker now has the internal vice chairperson’s seat for the 2002-2003 school year, winning the vote in the undergraduate student government election.

The election was postponed because of a close vote between the two candidates, former internal vice president Steve Lovelace and Academic Assembly College of Arts and Letters representative Jacqueline Sadowski.

It was reopened Tuesday with a total of six candidates running for the position.

The closing and reopening of the election is not acceptable.

It is highly unusual for a responsible student government to postpone an important election simply because the vote between the only two candidates running is close.

It is even stranger to then reopen the election with four more candidates vying for the same seat.

This practice is not indicative of a fair or professional race.

A close vote is not grounds to postpone an election and then open it to several more candidates.

Even if there was a close vote, the majority should prevail. There should not be a discrepancy as to whether more candidates should be thrown into the mix, or if there should be a new decision made as to who would be best for the position.

If the two original candidates were unsatisfactory, that should have been noted before proceeding to accept more applications.

It is very unprofessional to allow this to occur, and reflects poorly on ASMSU Academic Assembly’s electoral process.

A leadership position that includes such responsibilities as updating the assembly’s codes and policies should be regarded with the utmost scrutiny, and only a certain number of candidates should be permitted to run.

An individual should be elected based on having received the most votes in the election - that is the most fair, democratic way for an electoral process to work effectively.

Perhaps ASMSU should reconsider how it organizes its electoral process in the future, so that there will not be confusion when their leaders are chosen.