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May 4, 2004
Student
elections ‘a mess'
Sheila Snodgrass
Mesa Legend
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Photo courtesy Joe Files |
| Voters participate in the ASMCC student elections
on April 14. |
“It was a mess,” is how Associated
Students of Mesa Community College Satellite Commissioner Scott Jaffa
described the recent ASMCC elections that took place April 14.
Greg Reents, director of student leadership, said he is happy with the
turnout of voters and that things went well for the most part.
“It was a much bigger turnout than expected. I would have been happy
with anything over 200 voters. I think things went pretty well, but I’m
disappointed at the frustration between candidates. You never want to
see anything like that happen,” said Reents.
There were approximately 508 students who filled out ballots, including
80 students from the Red Mountain campus, said Reents. According to Bonnie
Capen, she counted the votes with current ASMCC president and head of
the election committee, Vice President May Bynon, third party Monica Cordova.
“I personally saw candidates breaking the rules on election day
…Candidates were standing next to the election table passing out
their contraband,” said Dan Densmore, student worker for Service
Learning and full-time student.
“Gum and flyers were at the table, but every time I went there,
there wasn’t anything going on (nothing being passed out) …
If that had been going on for three or four hours, it would have been
grounds (for disqualification),” said Reents.
The ASMCC bylaws, revised Jan. 26, state, “At MCC Mesa Campus, candidates
and campaigning materials must maintain a distance of 50 feet from the
polling booth.”
Joe Files, an ASMCC senator for three years, said he felt it was inappropriate
for Alisha Bloom, who was running for president, to hand out pizza as
though she had purchased it for campaigning. According to Files, Student
Activities purchased the pizza for voters and Bloom rode on a golf cart
passing out the pizza. Files said he feels that students may have gotten
the impression that the she purchased the pizza.
Bloom said she was acting as ASMCC treasurer, the position she currently
holds, and that she had been asked to purchase the pizza for the Spring
Bash and elections. “The second it was brought to my attention that
it might appear as though I was using the pizza to campaign, I stopped,”
said Bloom.
Files and Densmore both said they witnessed candidates working on their
campaigns in the ASMCC office before the elections, using ASMCC computers.
Use of ASMCC computers, materials and equipment is prohibited in the ASMCC
bylaws.
Times that the polling locations were supposed to be open created some
confusion, according to several students and Reents.
“I would have to see what the published times were … I’m
not sure if there was a specific time for Red Mountain listed in the manuals,”
said Reents. After looking through the information, Reents pointed out
a time window of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. “Well, we didn’t do that
either, but I’m not sure what was published,” he said.
“The election was supposed to start at 10 a.m. and run to 2 p.m.
here (at Red Mountain). We did not have official ballots and a representative
from the election committee until 11:15 a.m. and she (May Bynon) left
again at 1 p.m.,” said Jaffa. Jaffa said he was responsible for
putting up the posters stating the election times.
Jaffa said all of the candidates were ready to campaign at 10 a.m. and
so he printed up unofficial ballots to use until someone from the election
committee arrived.
“I said, ‘This is absurd,’ so I printed up ballots and
we used those until May (Bynon) got there at 11:15 a.m. and then we tried
to put them on official ballots,” Jaffa said.
Jaffa said that he voiced his concerns about the late start with Alison
Whiting, program adviser of Student Activities, and was told he did not
have the authority to make the ballots, but decided to make the ballots
anyway.
Capen said the votes cast on unofficial ballots that were later transferred
to official ones were disqualified because they were not approved. “He
(Jaffa) didn’t call and confirm it with the election committee,”
said Capen.
“I do apologize for election time confusion over at Red Mountain,”
said Reents.
“Communication with the elections was not as good as it should have
been,” said Bloom.
Concerns of the lack of anonymity of the ballots and voting process were
also raised. In order to vote, students were required to show their MCC
identification cards to prove their status as students. Students were
also required to write their names on the ballots. According to Reents,
having a name on the ballot was required for further verification in counting
the votes.
“That made me angry,” said Tammie Simpson, full-time MCC student
and tutor for America Reads. Simpson said she asked why her name was required
on the ballot, but the only reason she was given was that it was for verification
purposes.
“It doesn’t remain an anonymous ballot if you put your name
on the ballot,” said Densmore.
“None of the ballots were (anonymous). When you go to a polling
place, you have to sign your name; it’s just that in the polling
place you sign the book and it’s not specifically linked to your
ballot. I think that this is their simpler way of doing that,” said
Jaffa.
Simpson said she was so upset over the issue that she wrote Dean of Student
and Community Services Brian Johnson an e-mail after casting her vote.
The ASMCC bylaws state that all voters “must be able to furnish
a valid student ID in order to establish eligibility.” The bylaws
do not state that each ballot requires the voter’s name.
According to the ASMCC bylaws, campaign posters must be approved by the
Student Services program adviser or the director of Student Activities.
According to Reents, any materials posted on campus must be approved for
display and cannot promote alcohol or sex. One poster, in particular,
has come under scrutiny for its content. A campaign poster for Alisha
Bloom, Kristen Weston and Chad Jewell depicting Homer Simpson has been
questioned by some students because it contained the inner workings of
Homer Simpson’s mind, which include beer and sex. Reents said he
never approved the poster for display, but Densmore said he saw the poster
every day while he was walking past the tennis courts.
Bloom said, “In no way were we trying to promote sex or Duff beer.
It (the references to sex and beer) was really, really small.”
“After we heard one of our posters was offensive, we took down all
of our posters,” said Weston, current secretary and vice president-elect.
Weston said the posters were approved for display by the election committee.
Jaffa and Files said they find it inappropriate for May Bynon to have
escorted the ballot box between Red Mountain and the Southern and Dobson
campuses because she has a personal relationship with one of the candidates.
“The ballot box was completely closed. That wasn’t an issue,”
said Capen.
Bloom said she sees nothing wrong with it because Bynon is “completely
professional and keeps the two separate.” Reents did not have a
comment on the issue, but said there was no bias.
“I personally think they (Student Activities) should have thrown
the election out,” said Jaffa. “If there had been a national
election conducted like this, there would have been a riot,” he
added.
Capen said a meeting was held for candidates and the election committee
to voice their questions, comments and complaints after the elections,
and added that a revote will not be considered.
“We have decided (a revote) is unnecessary,” said Reents.
Comments from Dean Brian Johnson were unavailable at press time.
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