A.S.I
elections begin for CSULB campus positions
By
Jeanette Prather
On-line Forty-Niner
The
Associated Students Inc. elections at Cal
State Long Beach will be held Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday in seven locations on campus.
There are 41 candidates on the ballot, eight
of whom are running for an executive officer
position of president, vice president or
treasurer.
Because
of all the hard work and dedication each
of these candidates have contributed to
campaigning this year, they hope for more
than 14 percent of CSULB students to vote.
Although this was the total percent of the
population that voted in last year's elections
and the best turn-out at any CSU, A.S.I.
representatives said they are hoping for
an even larger voter base this year.
The
process that all of the candidates had to
go through was long. It began Feb. 17 with
a filing period and will not end until April
29 when the official results of the votes.
If the first filing period attracted more
than one candidate per position there would
have been no need to open up a second filing
period, but since there was only one student
campaigning in a few areas, the need for
a second filing period was necessary.
After
the first filing period there was an eligibility
check system that the candidates must have
met before continuing with their campaigns.
Two mandatory meetings followed the eligibility
check and allowed the candidates to get
together and begin their campaigning.
This
entire process was repeated once more on
March 15 and began with another filing period
that included any position with less than
one person running.
On
April 13 a meet-and-greet was held which
helped the candidates introduce themselves
to potential voters. Another function was
held April 15 that gave running executive
officers the opportunity to debate against
one another.
"We
had a really good turn-out for the debate,"
A.S.I. Treasurer, Mike Johnson said. "It
lasted two hours and the crowd was really
nice."
Johnson,
currently running for president, admitted
to experiencing "bitterness and ugliness"
in past elections but added that throughout
this election so far, there has been an
adequate level of respect and fairness established
among the different candidates.
Although
he would not comment on specific corrupt
events among the candidates of past elections,
Johnson referred to situations where slander
was used against him in this election.
"It wasn't from another candidate because
we all [the three presidential candidates]
respect each other completely, but there
was one guy who disagreed with my campaign
and put up over 100 flyers claiming false
statements," Johnson said.
Despite
this incident, Johnson stayed in the race
with optimism.
"There's
a beneficial flip-side to all this,"
he said. "When voters out there see
how hard you work and how much heart and
soul you put into everything, and they show
appreciation, it's definitely worth it."
Johnson
said he shares a level of respect and is
not only running against the two other presidential
candidates, but also the five other potential
executive officers. The three presidential
candidates running in this election are
Armando Aguilar, Myles Griffin and Mike
Johnson. The three vice presidential candidates
running are Erik Julliff, Raemi Laurel Neils
and Corian Lucas; and the two candidates
for treasurer are Rebekah Smith and Joseph
A. Baclig.
The
rest of the 41 candidates running include
nine senators at large, seven 49er Shop
and University Student Union board of director
members, four business senators, three engineering
senators, three natural science and math
senators, three liberal arts senators, two
education senators and two health and human
services senators.
All
of these candidates will be on the ballot
at the West Campus turn-around near Brotman
Hall; the SSPA building downstairs near
Lot 14; the Friendship Walk by the large
sculpture behind the USU and in front of
Parkside Commons.
In
case any candidate receives a 50 percent
vote and needs at least one more vote to
win a position in the election, a run-off
election held at the University Library,
the University Bookstore and the ramp base
next to the CBA building and University
Art Museum will take place April 27 -28.
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