Candidate applications for April’s student government elections will likely be available this afternoon, and Downtown student government candidates will be subject to several major election-code changes.
One change in direct response to last year’s elections is the removal of write-in candidates.
Last year, current Director of Administration Rudy Rivas and Director of Parliamentary Procedures Andres Cano both ran as write-in candidates.
Their final decision to run was spurred by seeing President Joseph Grossman running unopposed.
Potential candidates have nearly three weeks to turn in applications this year. The election committee said if a student doesn’t know for sure if they want to run by then, they shouldn’t run.
Students will have enough time to apply “if (they) really want to do the best for the campus and believe in their heart they can,” Rivas said.
Also, students will not be able to bypass the application deadline by saying they did not know they could run. USGD will be ramping up its promotional efforts around the election, putting signs up around campus, tabling and passing out flyers to let students know about the elections.
Last year, the government was criticized for poor advertising of the election schedule.
The Presidents Council developed the new election code while hammering out the universal constitution over the summer and the fall semester. The council then handed the code to Rivas and the election committee.
Rivas and the committee discussed changes, made alterations to the wording and minor adjustments to some passages, including violation severity and reducing the amount of money candidates can spend on the elections.
Another pan-campus election change is the election schedule. All campuses are working off the same schedule this year, with voting on the same days — April 10 and 11.
But, while the election committee says the single schedule has the potential to make the process cleaner and more organized, they also admitted it could lead to a rash of early violations.
Rivas said a major problem comes in the month between when the applications are due on Feb. 27 and when candidates can begin campaigning — after spring break on March 26.
If a candidate begins campaigning any time before March 26, he or she will be leveled a three-point violation. A candidate is disqualified after receiving nine points.
Campaigning, according to the election code, includes publicly using signs, posters, websites and speaking engagements.
The election committee also defined speaking to students on an individual basis as campaigning.
Telling anyone in a public setting that the candidate is running for office is a violation, making it difficult to find a campaign manager in advance.
Rivas and the election committee eventually determined the location is vital to whether a violation will be handed down or not. They said any campaign discussions must occur in a private setting, including finding a campaign manager.
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
