ASPSU’s Elections Board offered free food and live music last Tuesday at an event in Parkway North that aimed to raise awareness of student government and voting.
Candidates in this year’s annual student government election managed tables and handed out literature, and the E-board ran a voting booth. In addition, ASPSU funds went to purchase enough Subway sandwiches for 1,000 guests.
“I am so happy because everybody helped out,” said Linneas Boland-Godbey, a freshman member of the E-board.
Originally staged outdoors, the event was moved inside after the sky threatened to rain. Local bands The Secret Whistle and Rare Monk performed as well.
E-board Chair Ari Wubbold was satisfied with the day’s turnout.
“We want to get people involved,” he said. “Voting is almost incidental right now. We’re trying to draw people’s attention to the candidates.”
Last year, only 700 students voted in the ASPSU elections. However, this year Wubbold and the rest of the board set a goal of recruiting 10 percent of the student body—about 2,800 votes—by May 1, the last day to turn in ballots. As of press time, ASPSU counted more than 1,150 votes.
“Any improvement is something I’d be happy about,” Wubbold said.
Paul Quiring, a PSU marketing senior, said he was attracted by the posters he saw promising free food.
“I just walked by on my way to Neuberger and saw the signs,” he said. He hasn’t voted yet, but plans to.
Current ASPSU President Katie Markey teamed with the E-board to help plan the event, and Oregon Student Association Campus Organizer Casey Dreher recruited people for tables.
“Ultimately, it would have been best to have it outside, but thanks to our bipolar weather, we had to move it,” Dreher said. ?