This year, students who wish to cast their vote for ASUU president, vice president and senior class president need to choose between the lesser of two evils: Do they select the dishonest party, or the disorganized one?
The BLOC Party leadership either intentionally or accidentally exceeded their spending caps-but even if the spending discrepancy of $1,500 was a complete accident, who wants to trust a group of people who were so cavalier over $2,000 with a much larger budget?
BLOC Party leaders have given contradictory statements ever since the controversy broke. They appealed their first punishment, claiming it unfairly hurt 64 Senate and Assembly candidates-and when they received a new punishment, which helped 64 people, but removed the three true offenders from the ballot, they appealed once more.
This new appeal decreased the penalty for the three main offenders, but punished the party as a whole by barring them from actively campaigning today.
Still, BLOC Party leaders now argue that having the names of three people on the ballot will help all candidates more than being able to campaign during the first day of voting.
On the other hand, the Big Idea Party leadership was not able to fill all their Senate and Assembly seats before the filing deadline. They did not fund-raise as much money as their opponents, and therefore had to operate on a much smaller budget. This implies that their networking skills are not on-par with their opponents.
Furthermore, the grievances filed against the Big Idea Party, though of a less serious nature, suggest that the communication within the party leaves something to be desired. How hard is it to make sure that all candidates attend a mandatory orientation?
While it is unfortunate that elections have been plagued with so much controversy, it is important for students to remember that the most important elections are the ones least publicized-those for positions on the ASUU General Assembly and the ASUU Senate.
Realistically, members of the legislative bodies of ASUU affect students more than the ASUU president, vice president and senior class president ever will. Members of the Assembly and Senate vote on issues like mandatory health care and the recreation center-they are the average student’s voice in student government.
These students will be able to enact the most change for their colleges, if they do their jobs right-which is why students need to pay close attention to these lesser-publicized races and vote for the candidates who best represent various majors and student committees.
These potential student leaders will be some of the most influential-if not the most recognizable-members of ASUU, and for that reason, students need to vote in these races.
Students need to do their best to research these candidates, despite the fact that all BLOC Party candidates will not be able to campaign today, because they will influence the next school year far more than one might expect.