It's that time of year again - Student Association election season. Candidates and their campaign mates swarm the Student Union, and most students seem to walk faster or have that important phone conversation instead of grabbing every flier that is thrown in their faces.
This election year is no exception.
"I feel like I was bombarded starting Monday when elections were going to start and then Tuesday; I just feel like there are masses of people pushing fliers in my face," said Mercy Walelo, a freshman pre-pharmacy major. "It should be more organized than that."
On Tuesday, candidates from the Reason, United, and MVP parties began a three-day push for votes in hopes to win spots on the SA executive board or become a SUNY delegate. Candidates, armed with fliers and mini-platform speeches, hoped to reach students and gain votes.
"I have maybe 30 seconds with [a person] in the perfect situation," said Travis Nemmer, the Reason Party's presidential candidate. "It's exhausting. But it's been very positive; we're getting the word out there."
Nemmer stressed that the campaigning and election process is far from ideal - his first suggestion was more notice for things like the town-hall meeting held on Monday and the club council endorsements. Traditionally, the endorsements are held a week before the election, but instead were held Monday night.
"[The town-hall meeting] was a great discussion, I had a lot of fun being there, and I know the MVP guy [Ted DiRienzo] did," Nemmer said. "But the problem is we're advertising to a room full of 14 people, 12 of which were already brought there by the other parties."
Nemmer attributes this to poor planning by the current executive board. President JoAnna Datz originally appointed Gretchen Garcia as chair of the Elections and Credentials Committee - the governing body for student elections - when Nemmer resigned as chair due to conflict of interest. Because Nemmer is currently participating in the election, he cannot serve as chair of the committee.
The SA Assembly rejected Datz's appointment on March 7. On March 21, the Emergency Powers Council - an extension of the SA Senate that meets if an issue cannot wait the five days it takes to call a Senate meeting - appointed Daniel Kozlowski as the committee chair.
"They tried to appoint an elections and credentials chair that was biased," Nemmer said. "[The Assembly] threw that out and blamed that whole thing on me. And everything could have gone according to schedule, but it didn't for very obvious reasons. And there is no excuse for the way this election is set up."
United Party Presidential Candidate Judy Mai is running in her first SA election this week. Though only the first day of campaigning has passed, Mai remains hopeful and plans to stick with her party's strategy until the last vote. She wants to make sure students are making informed decisions, rather than voting based on name recognition.
"We want to keep pushing like we're always behind," Mai said. "We're going to try to talk to as many people as we can and make sure that they're well-informed, too, about all the different parties because we want people to make informed decisions."
Mai and the rest of her party will assess how their first day went to see what strategies worked and what didn't work. But despite what they find, the United Party plans to keep pushing because it knows students dread election season, according to Mai.
Darwinson Valdez, Mai's running mate and vice presidential candidate, is not a newcomer to the election process - he ran for a SUNY delegate position on the independent ticket during last year's election. He believes this gives his party an advantage, and he believes the election is not and should not be considered a popularity contest.
"We know how the floor flows, and we know what people want," Valdez said. "[We know] how to approach people, [and] how not to get them upset because people don't like to get fliers."
Still most students are bothered by the constant three-day campaign and election process. Many believe the process of handing out fliers and stopping students in the Union is counterproductive - students just don't care what each party's platform is about.
Shant Tamazian, a freshman biomedical sciences major, feels bombarded by information, and he thinks students should research the parties themselves.
"They want me to vote based on name recognition; they didn't tell me anything about their platform," Tamazian said. "I think a lot of people will vote solely on name recognition. And it's sad; I would like to know that [students] are voting based on who they think will be best for the job. But you can't force them."
Email: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
