There’s no need for the Emerald’s annual ASUO candidate endorsement this year, because save for one undecided Senate seat, a general election won’t be happening.
Ben Eckstein and Katie Taylor received a narrow 52 percent majority of the vote for executive (2,624 out of 5,010 votes) in last week’s primary, eliminating the need for a runoff election. Their slate won majorities in all but three seats — two with candidates running unopposed and one resulting in a tie.
When a 52 percent majority, out of the 24 percent of University students who voted, nullifies an entire general election, it’s a clear sign students aren’t accurately represented and the ASUO election system isn’t working. The ASUO needs to change the election system to eliminate the nonsense, represent the entire student body and give students a reason to vote.
It’s a shame this year’s election was decided by a minority and the two serious tickets don’t have a chance at a runoff. Additionally, with no runoff election, the seven grievances filed during primary week against slates for various campaign violations will likely go unresolved and without punishment. But with slates going to ridiculous lengths to reach out to students, it’s no surprise students are driven to apathy.
Most students find canvassers invasive and don’t know what the ASUO does or how it affects them. Rather than having a voter’s guide merely with candidate photos and generic platform statements, the ASUO elections coordinator should provide a breakdown of the ballot and tell students what they are voting for and why each position is important. The voter’s guide should be available in multiple platforms to reach out to students before they log on to DuckWeb. By illustrating what the ASUO does, how it spends student money and how it affects students, students would be more inclined to participate in elections.
The ASUO also needs a more stringent process to determine who is qualified to run in the election. Curtis Haley, a graduating senior who ran for ASUO president, said in an Emerald interview that he wanted “to make the point that people like me should not be allowed to do this; and that they should change the rules to make it a little bit more challenging to encourage some more serious debate in the ASUO so jokesters, such as myself and (running mate) Nick Warren, can’t just throw flames at the whole process.”
Indeed, candidates should have to meet stricter requirements, such as submitting a more solid campaign platform or having previous student government experience, to get on the ballot. Joke tickets outnumbered serious tickets in this year’s executive race, and those joke candidates took votes away from the serious candidates, skewing the results. There’s no point in having a primary election if students can’t weed out the joke candidates and narrow the candidate pool down to the two most viable tickets.
The ASUO can increase voter turnout by putting an end to petty, insidious campaign tactics. Campaigning in residence halls, using the University listserv, campaigning before the official start date and using the Emerald as a vehicle for canvassing are against ASUO rules, yet campaigns engage in these practices each year. In addition to having detailed platforms with tangible goals, candidates should reach out to students — without being obnoxious — and show them what their vote means. The ASUO must develop clear, strict, noninvasive campaign policies to encourage transparency and discourage illegal campaigning.
With a winning margin of only 813 students, this year’s executive election wasn’t exactly a landslide win. When it’s clear the student body isn’t accurately represented, it’s time for the ASUO to rethink what constitutes nullifying the general election. A supermajority, or two-thirds majority, would be a fairer reason to nullify a general election and would give serious candidates a fair chance.
We at the Emerald admit that we failed to adequately cover the primary election with the attention it deserved, and as a student publication, we’ll strive for improvement. It’s time for the ASUO as a student government to admit that its system isn’t working and seek to improve how it serves students.
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