Spring Break
Student Government elections start today
Voting continues Tuesday, with results on Wednesday
Bob Bajek / Student Government Editor
Issue date: 4/6/09 Section: News
The Student Government election begins today with polls opening at 9 a.m. at the southeast corner of Coleman Hall and the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union food court.
Ashlei Birch, officer of elections, said the polls will remain open until 5 p.m. Polling times will be the same on Tuesday.
The food court was a substitute for the Library Quad, Birch said. She said Student Government saw the weather reports predicted 30 degrees with a possibility of rain and snow.
"We had to know by Friday morning, because the university workers do not work on the weekend; so it is in those places regardless," Birch said. "The tent will not be put out because of the weather."
Birch said the ballots would be Scantron, with a key containing the candidates' names.
Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin will drive a golf cart to transport ballots, tables and chairs to Coleman Hall.
Birch explained some of the election's rules.
"When a student votes, he or she is allowed to bring a handout from a candidate to the polling place itself," she said. "But the person who brought the handout has to take it from the table or we will dispose of it since we don't want to seem like we are campaigning."
Other rules are candidates cannot go door-to-door to the residence halls or 100 feet within the polling place, which Birch said is illegal.
She said there is nothing in the bylaws that prevents candidates from going door-to-door at apartments.
Student Senate members Ron Jordan and Michelle Murphy are running for student body president.
Eric Wilber, student executive vice president, is running unopposed to retain his executive position. Wilber will be the only returning executive board member.
Student Senate member Jose Alarcon and student Scott Lambert are running for student vice president for academic affairs.
Members Tyson Holder and Brad Saribekian are pursuing the student vice president for business affairs position.
Members Paul Reid and Mark Olendzki are vying for the vice president for student affairs.
Twenty students are competing for 21 open senatorial seats, while up to nine senators will return in the fall.
If Alarcon, Saribekian, Reid and Murphy do not win their respective executive seats, they will serve out the remainder of their term on the Student Senate.
The election's winners will be announced at Wednesday's Student Senate meeting.
See some of the candidates' stances in past DEN stories:
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
Ashlei Birch, officer of elections, said the polls will remain open until 5 p.m. Polling times will be the same on Tuesday.
The food court was a substitute for the Library Quad, Birch said. She said Student Government saw the weather reports predicted 30 degrees with a possibility of rain and snow.
"We had to know by Friday morning, because the university workers do not work on the weekend; so it is in those places regardless," Birch said. "The tent will not be put out because of the weather."
Birch said the ballots would be Scantron, with a key containing the candidates' names.
Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin will drive a golf cart to transport ballots, tables and chairs to Coleman Hall.
Birch explained some of the election's rules.
"When a student votes, he or she is allowed to bring a handout from a candidate to the polling place itself," she said. "But the person who brought the handout has to take it from the table or we will dispose of it since we don't want to seem like we are campaigning."
Other rules are candidates cannot go door-to-door to the residence halls or 100 feet within the polling place, which Birch said is illegal.
She said there is nothing in the bylaws that prevents candidates from going door-to-door at apartments.
Student Senate members Ron Jordan and Michelle Murphy are running for student body president.
Eric Wilber, student executive vice president, is running unopposed to retain his executive position. Wilber will be the only returning executive board member.
Student Senate member Jose Alarcon and student Scott Lambert are running for student vice president for academic affairs.
Members Tyson Holder and Brad Saribekian are pursuing the student vice president for business affairs position.
Members Paul Reid and Mark Olendzki are vying for the vice president for student affairs.
Twenty students are competing for 21 open senatorial seats, while up to nine senators will return in the fall.
If Alarcon, Saribekian, Reid and Murphy do not win their respective executive seats, they will serve out the remainder of their term on the Student Senate.
The election's winners will be announced at Wednesday's Student Senate meeting.
See some of the candidates' stances in past DEN stories:
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 7
Electronic voting
posted 4/06/09 @ 9:27 AM CST
Has the student government considered about using electronic voting. Faculty senate has successfully used it for their election.
Chris K
posted 4/06/09 @ 11:32 AM CST
I think electronic voting is a terrible idea, for the same reason we don't use it on a national level: there is no paper trail. It opens up the process to massive voter fraud, especially if someone can just go into a computer lab and tell people to vote for them. (Continued…)
Chris K
posted 4/07/09 @ 8:02 PM CST
Do you mean electronic voting as in using electronic machines at a designated polling place, or electronic voting as in having a window in which voters can go online and cast their vote? My comments were in respect to online electronic voting. (Continued…)
Chris K
posted 4/07/09 @ 10:32 PM CST
That's true that doing it through PAWS would be safer than using E numbers, essentially making this an argument of surrepitituously using someone's Booth Library account versus their PAWS account, but either way, the anonymity of people voting online should be avoided because when it comes down to it, you can't guarantee that people are who they present themselves to be like you can by physically checking their PantherCard. (Continued…)
Electronic voting
posted 4/08/09 @ 10:05 AM CST
For example the Faculty Senate used online voting and they used their EIU NetID and Password to login and then vote for the candidates. The system won't let a user vote twice, it was very convenient and fast. (Continued…)
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