With about 80 candidates running for ASUO office and 19 ballot measures proposing changes to the constitution, busy University students might feel overwhelmed by elections, which begin at 9 a.m. today and run until 5 p.m. Friday.
But ASUO Elections Coordinator Andrea Hall said students need to take the initiative and educate themselves on student government candidates. Even if students don’t have to time to pick up a Voter’s Guide and beef-up on election information, Hall said picking next year’s ASUO leaders is essential.
“Every student should exercise their right to participate in a democracy,” she said.
ASUO election turnouts have hovered between 10 and 20 percent the past few years, with only 15.3 percent of the student population voting in last year’s primaries, and only 10.5 percent voting in the general election.
Hall said students who aren’t familiar with candidates and their goals can cut to the heart of the matter by visiting election hopefuls at the ASUO Candidates Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in the concourse of the EMU.
For more information, full transcripts of the Emerald’s interviews with the candidates in every contested race are available at www.dailyemerald.com. At the main page, mouseover the “News” link, and when the menu pops up, click on “ASUO elections.”
Once students have armed themselves with knowledge about the candidates, they need only log onto DuckWeb from any computer with an Internet connection — and vote.

— Jennifer Bear