March 7 , 2006
NEWSASMCC to change voting process, raise interest
Voting online, candidate profiles are intended to increase participation .The elections for student government positions are coming up in April, and those who are involved want you to participate.
The positions of President, Executive Vice President, Vice President of Fiscal Affairs, and Vice President of Communications are the offices that candidates will be running for.
In the past, the voter turnout for student government elections has only been a few hundred students. The members of the Associated Students of Mesa Community College and MCC’s Senate are working on making some changes to the elections that will bring more people to vote and attract the most qualified students on campus to run for these positions.
Election days are April 10 through April 12. The president of ASMCC, Jeffrey Linford, hopes that this election will be the most successful to date.
Linford and the rest of the student government are attempting to develop a way for students to vote online, making it much more convenient to participate in the election.
Not only do they want online voting, but they are hoping to make all the candidates’ profiles available online as well. If this goes through, researching the best candidate and casting a vote should be easier. As for now, election packets are currently available in the Kirk Center.
Linford and the rest of ASMCC encourage all students to get involved in the elections so that they can elect someone who is going to do the best things for the college.
“Students that participate in the elections are more aware of the issues and opportunities at MCC,” Linford stated.
The proposed changes are to make the voting process easier and more appealing to a greater amount of students.
However, they are not the only changes being made. Student government is also seeking to change the requirements for those who wish to run for office.
Under the current bylaws, any student who has participated in ASMCC is eligible to run for office. Members of student government believe those terms are too vague and that they hold otherwise qualified students back from running because they haven’t been involved with ASMCC.
“In the past there have been many students that have not been previously involved with ASMCC and have been appointed to a position,” Linford said. “Some of these students have turned out to be extremely qualified and have succeeded in their positions.”
To expand the opportunity of running for office to students who haven’t served with ASMCC, they defined other areas of qualification.
Some of the proposed changes included requiring 50 signatures from students who support the candidate. Candidates must also provided two letters of recommendation from people who can attest to the candidate’s leadership skills.
Combined with the already required 2.5 GPA, six completed credits, and six currently enrolled credits at MCC, these changes should attract the most qualified candidates for student government offices.
The changes have not been submitted to the Senate yet, so they have not been made official. However, they are expected to pass through smoothly.