Students interested in joining the ranks of the ASUO can learn about the inner-workings of student government at a meeting Thursday night.
The ASUO Elections Board members, as well as current members of the student government, will speak at the elections kick-off event at 7 p.m. Thursday in 105 Esslinger Hall, said Student Senator Jeremy Ebner.
Elections Coordinator Dante Vivanco said the members of the Elections Board will speak for about half an hour about the positions that are open, deadlines for filing to run, and job descriptions.
Ebner said the event is designed to give potential candidates an idea of what to expect from the jobs.
“The whole goal is to just get people to get interested in running for ASUO elections and to educate them so they know a little about the position before they get to run for it,” he said.
Vivanco said he hopes there will be a big turnout at the event because he does not want to have uncontested races.
“We want the student body to be able to pick from a wide variety of candidates,” he said.
He said that to his knowledge, this is the first year current members of the ASUO have spoken at the kick-off event, something he hopes has a positive effect on students who are considering running for office but who may be wavering on making a decision. He said hearing those voices offers a “new perspective.”
“You have someone who is actively serving in that position,” he said. “They can give an accurate description of what it is really like.”
The open positions are: ASUO President/Vice President; Senate seats 1 and 3 (Programs Finance Committee seats); Senate seats 4 and 6 (EMU Board Finance seats); Senate seats 7 and 9 (Athletic Department Finance Committee seats); and Academic seats 11 (undeclared), 13 (business administration), 15 (arts and sciences) and 17 (graduate/law).
There are also open seats on the Associated Students Presidential Advisory Council, the Student Recreation Center Advisory Board, the Athletic Department Finance Committee, the Programs Finance Committee and the EMU Board.
The ASUO begins accepting applications for candidacy at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and the deadline for filing is March 15 at 5 p.m.
Ballot measures may be submitted by the ASUO Executive, by the Student Senate with a 2/3 vote of the Senators, or by students who gather signatures from at least 5 percent of the student body (a little more than 1,000 signatures).
The wording of ballot measures must be approved by the ASUO Constitution Court prior to gathering signatures, Vivanco said. The deadline to turn in wording of measures is March 2, and measures with signatures approved by the Constitution Court are due by March 20 at 5 p.m.
All applications for candidacy and ballot measures should be turned in to the ASUO Office in Suite 4 of the EMU.
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