This isn’t high school anymore
Many ASU students come to university expecting student government to be similar to the way it was in high school: small and mostly tasked with planning school dances and football rallies. While high school student government wasn’t a concern for many, ASU’s undergraduate student government, or USG, is not something to take lightly.
Why it matters
The Tempe campus USG alone has a budget of $2.3 million, funding a wide array of programs including clubs and student organizations, safety escorts and a Bike Co-Op. They also advocate for college affordability, register students to vote and ensure that students have a voice in university decisions. USG also gets involved with local government to forge useful connections with lawmakers.
For better or for worse, ASU has had a major impact on the downtown Phoenix Area. Over 11,000 students are currently enrolled at the downtown campus, which recently secured a $13.5 million investment from the Phoenix City Council in an initiative to bring even more students downtown.
Regardless of your ASU student status, it’s important to be aware of the organization that advocates for them.
Despite the fact that USG impacts decision-making at ASU and handles large amounts of money, presidential candidates at the two largest campuses, Tempe and Downtown, ran unopposed in the 2018 election. Low voter turnout has also been prevalent at both campuses, especially when there is no competition for an executive seat.
After all, why would students vote if they don’t have options?
It’s absurd to imagine there aren’t plenty of qualified candidates at a school with over 70,000 students attending. Competition is an integral part of any election and we deserve to have more than one ticket on the ballot.
I’m not saying that the candidates running unopposed in the last election were in any way unqualified or that they are at fault, but that more students should consider running for office in the next election.
So get involved
It’s fairly easy to run in a student government election — Any ASU student can sign up to run for office. And while it might help your chances of winning, you don’t need to already be a part of student government to run.
As long as you fill out an application by the deadline, you will be on the ballot.
More competition would increase involvement with student government and lead to higher voter turnout. The most recent downtown USG election had 164 fewer votes compared to the 2017 election, which also saw a decrease of nearly 300 votes from the year before. Downtown has seen presidential candidates run uncontested for years.
Tempe, however, had multiple USG presidential candidates in 2017. According to the State Press, there were 4,526 voters in the election. One year later, in 2018, there were only 446. There was only one candidate running for president that year.
The difference in voter turnout when there is choice and competition is clear.
Student government representatives are our advocates and make decisions that affect the students they serve. We should care about who represents us and work to ensure that we make our voice heard during their elections.
If the issue with low voter turnout is to be solved, we need more people to run for these important and impactful positions.
Contact the columnist at mbwillis@asu.edu.
