DISSING THE DOWNTOWN VOTE
(In response to the April 11 editorial, “Downtown dysfunction.”)
As an undergraduate student in the College of Public Programs at the Downtown campus and a student worker in the dean’s office for my college, I am dismayed by a second election for officers to the Associated Students of Arizona State University Downtown (ASASUD) that has been determined by strict application of rules instead of voter intent.
I was hopeful that following the April 2010 elections on the Downtown Phoenix campus, ending up with the disqualification of the winning ticket, the scope and breadth of the ASASUD elections code would be dialed back.
Unfortunately, the revisions were rather underwhelming, and the draconian elections code remained largely intact. The ultimate losers in this madness are the students of the Downtown campus.
I see many students who do amazing things and who would be fantastic student advocates in a student government position.
Unfortunately, these same students do not want to get involved in student government on our campus because of this rule by technicality.
ASASUD has a lot to learn when it comes to striking a fair and equitable balance between policing elections and preserving the integrity of voter intent. These last two elections show preference for the former over the latter.
I hope that ASASUD revisits its election code before the next election in 2012 to allow candidates to campaign on ideas and policies and not be extremely paranoid about violating the minutiae of the elections code.
Edward Jensen Undergraduate
