Click here to visit the Emerald’s Campus Elections Homepage. Listen to candidate interviews and watch election video.
Students who wish to meet candidates for next year’s ASUO will get a chance to speak with ASUO hopefuls at Tuesday’s candidate fair. Candidates hoping to make it past this week’s primary election will also get an opportunity to hear what other candidates have to say.
The candidate fair is an annual event where candidates for all positions can set up tables along the walkway by the EMU Amphitheater. There is also a microphone set up so that candidates can address students.
Candidates may decorate their tables any way they want, Elections Coordinator Dante Vivanco said. The fair takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Vivanco says it is an excellent opportunity for candidates to meet with students.
He pointed out that getting candidates to set up booths at the fair has been difficult in the past because students have to come down the walkway to talk to them and it is easier to stand on the corner. However, he said the fair is important as an open forum for students to address their concerns with all the candidates in one location.
ASUO President Jared Axelrod said he attended the fair last year.
“It was great,” he said. “It was an opportunity to talk to students and eligible voters about your opinion.”
Axelrod said that, in addition to providing a chance to talk to students, the fair was a way to hear what all the other candidates were saying. He thought it was a great way to get to know his opponents.
According to Axelrod, government officials need to go out and speak to the community they represent, but the fair also gives a voice to students who feel left out of the process.
Students can hear from the candidates for ASUO President Tuesday night at the executive debate, which will be held at 7 p.m. in Lillis 282.