The Associated Students of Madison elections start at 10 a.m. today and go through 8 p.m. Thursday. Voting can be done in person at Memorial Union or online at www.vote.asm.wisc.edu. The race has drawn 68 students from seven different schools. There are four students running for two spots on the Student Services Finance Committee.
A group of students is running under the slate “REACH,” Real Education Access Can Happen. UW-Madison junior Carl Camacho, current ASM vice-chair, is one of those candidates.
“I’m committed to working on affordable tuition, increased financial aid, cross-cultural education, and students’ right to organize with fee autonomy,” Camacho’s online statement reads.
Other students say they are running due to their discontentment with the way ASM is run.
“Many members of student council have used it as their soapbox to politicize student issues,” said Letters and Sciences candidate Qi Fu. “My goal is to fight for a square deal for every person on this campus regardless of background.”
The Student Judiciary Committee will tabulate the votes Thursday night and will post the results outside the ASM office in Memorial Union. The student council will vote on specific positions for the new members towards the end of the school year.
Last semester, 11 percent of the student body cast a vote in the ASM elections.
Clara Janis, chair of the Student Election Commission, said UW student apathy regarding ASM elections results from ignorance.
“ASM affects you in more ways than you know,” Janis said.
She encouraged students to log on to the website and get informed about the issues.
“You don’t really have a right to complain about what’s going on unless you vote,” Janis added.