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ASM kicks off elections
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by Matthew Dolbey
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
The Associated Students of Madison general elections started Tuesday with relatively few problems, Student Election Committee Chair Marissa Courey said.
“Everything seems to be going fine,” she said.
However, Courey did say there were some technical problems involving the student council seat from the School of Nursing. The voting system would not accept write-in votes for the seat, which does not have any candidates on the ballot.
Courey said all students who could vote for this seat will be sent an e-mail this morning explaining what happened. It will also inform the students that the problem has been fixed.
The Division of Information Technology used a practice vote last week in order to fix any bugs that might crop up over the course of the real election, Courey said. Candidates were urged to try out the system beforehand, testing nearly all available options during the week’s election.
In fall’s ASM election, portions of the election had to be re-voted on due to computer errors. Even though technical errors plagued the fall 2003 election, it remained ASM’s most successful election with the highest voter turnout.
Courey said she hopes this spring will break those records.
The weather may have affected the turnout at the computer polling places located around University of Wisconsin’s unions, and Courey said she would not know whether more students voted this time around until the election ends Thursday at 8 p.m.
Thirty-three seats in student government and four ASM constitutional-amendment proposals are up for grabs. The four referenda deal with the distribution of Student Services Finance Committee seats, segregated-fees reserves and how segregated fees can fund speech or expressive activities.
One of the referenda proposed would make student council members lobby the state Legislature for affordable tuition at least once a year, participate in one ASM recruitment drive and attend at least one United Council event.
Though many students agree tuition is high, this amendment would essentially force students to lobby despite their views on the issue.
Courey encouraged all students to vote no matter where they stand on any issue, and she agreed that voting at home or on any Internet-capable computer is as easy as checking one’s e-mail.
UW Dean of Students Luoluo Hong also stressed the importance of campus civic involvement.
“UW-Madison has rich and strong history of student involvement in governance, but shared governance only works if a critical mass of students get involved,” Hong said in a press release. “Voting is a concrete way that every student can help shape campus.”
Students can find information on the candidates and vote on ASM’s site at www.asm.wisc.edu.
