Nearly everyone who pays attention to student politics knows that reform of ASPSU and the elections process is needed to get more students involved. Find out what one graduate student thinks may help make the process better.

Or so is the conventional wisdom. In reality, low voter turnout is due to several factors. A study was conducted by graduate student Kyle Curtis, former chair of the elections board. The purpose of Curtis's study, conducted via an online survey attached to the ballot, was to “provide the incoming Sanford-Chitsaz [our newly elected student President and V.P.] insight into the small percentage of PSU voters who participated in the 2009 ASPSU elections, while also hopefully providing suggestions to the next Elections Board to expand and improve the ASPSU elections process in 2010.” One thing is absolutely certain: the ASPSU elections process needs serious improvement.

Of students who voted, 24% of were junior-level students. Freshmen and sophomores were the next highest groups, respectively, while seniors only turned beat the post-bac and graduate students. The students who voted in the highest numbers were first-year students at PSU, who were, again, mostly Juniors. “The fact that the majority of students who voted in the 2009 ASPSU elections were in the first or second year at PSU indicate that these new students may be seeking community-building opportunities offered by student government and student clubs,” Curtis said in his report. “This information provides initial guidance of a direction for future election boards: new college students who are seeking to become identified with a larger community appear to be more likely to vote in the student elections.”

Criticisms of the election process, offered by student respondents, are rather telling. “This election was a mess,” one voter said on the survey. “With the election board messing up dates and times and then the conundrum of having the day pushed back.” The election of 2009 was beset by poor execution. Incomplete information was posted on Banweb by former vice president Kyle Cady, who corrected the error and threw out all votes that had already been cast, halfway through the first day of voting. Debates were scheduled months in advance, only to have dates and times changed at the last minute, which resulted in low audience attendance and, in some cases, the absence of the candidates themselves.

But disorder was not the main reason for the low turnout. One student who responded to Curtis's survey stated what many non-voters likely feel: most students have no idea what ASPSU does for students. Other students complain that emails sent out by ASPSU are written in what Curtis calls “confusing government language,” and frequently contain misspellings. Students, mostly juniors, suggested better placement of voting booths across campus, and blanketing the dorms with election advertising (a practice that is currently against elections policy).

Reform is desperately needed, both in the conduct of elections and in how students are informed of them. Portland Community College addressed years of declining voter turnout in student elections by ending the election process altogether, and turning the ASPCC into an oligarchy that hires its own replacement members. Students need to do everything possible to prevent that same thing from happening here.

Comments

ChipSharde

+1

 

 

The fact that no one knows what ASPSU does is a clear sign of their lack of media outreach. Why don't we see any C-Span style shit on PSU TV? I never listen to KPSU, but does anyone know if the ASPSU officers ever make appearances on the talk-radio circut? As far as I can tell the non-advertising forms of communication aren't being used effectively.

Come to think of it, why didn't YOU try to talk to them? Your article is clearly about them, so why are they absent?

Thursday 12 November 2009, 11:37

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