The race begins

Joseph Landor on April 7, 2011 in College Entry

Springtime at the UW means two things: cherry blossoms in the Quad and student government campaigning.

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ASUW elections begin today with new positions and spending limits.

Students will start seeing candidates unveiling signs and handing out promotional buttons as the race to the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) elections begins today.

ASUW elections, which occur during spring quarter of every year, allows UW students who are members of ASUW to vote for the ASUW Board of Directors, the executive branch of ASUW. Positions to be elected include president, vice president and six at-large members of the Board of Directors.

ASUW is the undergraduate student government at the UW and is composed of student-run commissions, programs, enterprises and committees. ASUW is operated entirely by UW students, is funded by a contribution from the Services and Activities Fee (SAF) and intends to provide services that benefit students. Members of the Board of Directors oversee ASUW entities and serve as liaisons to faculty committees.

Students who have voted or participated in ASUW elections before can expect to see some changes this year. The positions and duties of the Board of Directors have been altered, and were approved by the current Board of Directors at its Feb. 25 meeting. These changes were made after the Board of Directors felt that “a restructuring of the responsibilities of the board would increase the effectiveness of the organization and better support the President,” according to a bill passed Feb. 25.

Most significantly, voters will see a completely new position on the ballot.

The director of communications has replaced the director of organizational relations’ seat. The director of communications is a new position, and will focus on communication with media and the student body and be responsible for technology initiatives. The seat will be an evolved version of the hired public relations coordinator, which the Board of Directors created last December.

Eric Shellan, vice president of ASUW, is interested to see how people choose to campaign for the new position.

“I think that the director of communications position will be interesting to watch to see how creative people can get,” Shellan said.

During last year’s campaigning period, candidates employed new tactics compared to previous years. Strategies such as passing out popsicles, having signature drinks and dishes at local restaurants, and creating videos, among others, were reflected in increased voter turnout rates for the 2010 elections.

Last year, the record for voting was set at 5,785, but William Cavecche, chair of the Elections Administration Committee (EAC), said he hopes to surpass that.

“This year, I’m shooting for over 6,000,” Cavveche said. “That’s my goal.”

Cavecche said that he thinks voter turnout could improve this year based on how he’s seen the EAC work and what he’s heard about potential candidates.

“The two factors that I see influence voter turnout are how active the candidates are and how active the EAC members are,“ Cavecche said. “From what I’ve heard, we’ll have some very active candidates this year, and I already know the EAC is active.”

A few other titles have undergone changes that will show up on the ballot this year. The director of operations’ title has changed to director of policy and procedures, and the director of faculty, administration and academic affairs is now the director of university affairs. Along with these changes, the specific duties of the positions have been altered. Most notably, the vice-president position will now oversee ASUW enterprises and run day-to-day operations while the president focuses on external issues as the chief executive officer of the association.

Shellan said he thinks the changes to the vice president’s position will make for more variety in candidates’ agendas.

“I think this position has become a legitimate second-in-command, giving candidates more flexibility on what they campaign on,” Shellan said. “I think we’ll see more personality in campaigns.”

Spending limits have also increased for candidates. In the past, spending limits had been $350 for Board of Directors candidates, $400 for vice-presidential candidates, $500 for presidential candidates and $400 for ballot measures. After considering eliminating spending limits all together, the Board of Directors decided to raise limits based on the amount of students at the UW. According to the 2011 ASUW Elections Candidates Packet, the new spending limits are $420 for at-large candidates, $525 for vice president and $630 for president, while ballot measures increased to a spending limit of $420.

“The new changes are definitely an interesting spin on things,” said Cavecche, who also said that he thinks the changes to the board structure and spending limits have already brought more attention to the elections process.

Candidates will also begin to participate in public forums, the first of which will be the RHSA, IFC and Panhellenic Forum on April 19.

Candidates can still file until April 22 at 5 p.m. The elections will be held online and available through MyUW starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday, May 9 and continuing until 11:45 p.m. Wednesday May 11. Only ASUW members may vote. Students can become eligible by registering as an ASUW member before or on election day by filling out a form in at the SAO.

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