As the end of the academic year draws near, ASPSU is preparing to hold elections for next year’s officers. Official campaign season begins April 15, though off-campus campaigning has already begun.
To increase voter turnout, the ASPSU Elections Board has a full schedule of events this month. While candidate debates will take place from April 18 to 21, the biggest event of this campaign will be a “Get out the Vote” party on April 26. Bands, food and voting tables are planned for the event, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Park Blocks.
According to E-board President Ari Wubbold, this event will be an opportunity for students to meet candidates before they vote.
Wubbold has been hosting candidate orientation since the end of last month, and while it is hard to say how many candidates will run, he feels confident that this year’s elections will be diverse.
“We have a lot of people who aren’t already involved in ASPSU,” Wubbold said.
He attributes this heightened interest in ASPSU to the state of affairs in the Oregon University System.
“People are worried about where things are going,” he said. “You’re going to see more people getting involved.”
According to Wubbold, ASPSU has a big impact on how tuition money is spent, which is one thing that is drawing people in this year.
In addition to an increased physical presence on campus, the E-board will also be making use of technology on campus and within the PSU network. The ASPSU website has also been updated with videos about the electoral process and ASPSU’s general role at PSU. During the week of voting—April 22 through April 29—there will be direct links to the voting website on all the PSU computer desktops.
Every candidate in this year’s election will be submitting his or her bid for candidacy in video format, and the videos will be hosted on ASPSU’s Vimeo site, according to the ASPSU website.
According to Wubbold, one of the biggest challenges of campaigning for student body at PSU is the remarkable lack of voter turnout. He believes that a successful campaign this year will not only involve touting one’s own qualifications for any position, but also informing the student population about ASPSU in general.
“People think voting is a complicated process,” Wubbold said, “but everyone should be engaged in the community they’re a part of.”
Elections will fill the positions of president and vice president, student senators and Student Fee Committee members.
Wubbold and the E-board are currently looking for volunteers to help with the campaigning process. For more information, e-mail aspsueboard@gmail.com.