Student Government Elections Approaching
Fatima Khan
Issue date: 2/16/10 Section: News
The members of Student Government at the University of Michigan Dearborn are gearing up and preparing for upcoming elections. The election determines SG's president, vice-president, and the number of seats each party, slate, or independent, holds in the senate.
Anyone interested in running is required to get an Intent to Run form. All students are eligible to run for any position in SG. To be an eligible senator, students need 50 signatures on their forms from other students, along with the student's UM-D numbers.
To run for the presidency or vice-presidency however, students need 100 signatures. This is different than the requirements for last year, where senators needed 100 each, and those running for either president or vice-president needed 200. Students are strongly encouraged however, to get a little over the required number of signatures because the forms will be verified for validity.
To further stress this warning, students who plan on running for office should be aware of the inefficient way the signature sheet ordeal was handled last year. During last year's election process, several senators from both the Maize and Blue party and USA were kicked off the ballot. 14 senators from USA and six from Maize and Blue had signatures deemed invalid. If students do not obtain the required amount of signatures, their names are not placed on the ballot and they must then run as 'write in' senators.
If kicked off, there is an appeals process where students are asked to specify why they believe there was a breach in the election guidelines. Several students who ran last year felt there definitely was. Many of these same students claim several signatures and ID's that were considered illegitimate were in fact, legitimate.
Presidential candidate for the upcoming election, Hussein berry, was of the many senators who were kicked off the ballot last year. "This year's process for obtaining signatures is definitely more feasible and transparent than last year's, however, I do recommend candidates to get more than the required amount." said Berry.
Any student interested in running should file their names before the Feb. 26 deadline. Those interested should go to the SG office, located in the University Center, for more information.
Students may vote on one of the two election days, which are scheduled to be March 31 and April 1. To vote, students need their UM-D cards. Usually, voting booths are set up in College of Arts Sciences and Letters and in the College of Business. The presidential and vice-presidential debates are scheduled for March 29.
Anyone interested in running is required to get an Intent to Run form. All students are eligible to run for any position in SG. To be an eligible senator, students need 50 signatures on their forms from other students, along with the student's UM-D numbers.
To run for the presidency or vice-presidency however, students need 100 signatures. This is different than the requirements for last year, where senators needed 100 each, and those running for either president or vice-president needed 200. Students are strongly encouraged however, to get a little over the required number of signatures because the forms will be verified for validity.
To further stress this warning, students who plan on running for office should be aware of the inefficient way the signature sheet ordeal was handled last year. During last year's election process, several senators from both the Maize and Blue party and USA were kicked off the ballot. 14 senators from USA and six from Maize and Blue had signatures deemed invalid. If students do not obtain the required amount of signatures, their names are not placed on the ballot and they must then run as 'write in' senators.
If kicked off, there is an appeals process where students are asked to specify why they believe there was a breach in the election guidelines. Several students who ran last year felt there definitely was. Many of these same students claim several signatures and ID's that were considered illegitimate were in fact, legitimate.
Presidential candidate for the upcoming election, Hussein berry, was of the many senators who were kicked off the ballot last year. "This year's process for obtaining signatures is definitely more feasible and transparent than last year's, however, I do recommend candidates to get more than the required amount." said Berry.
Any student interested in running should file their names before the Feb. 26 deadline. Those interested should go to the SG office, located in the University Center, for more information.
Students may vote on one of the two election days, which are scheduled to be March 31 and April 1. To vote, students need their UM-D cards. Usually, voting booths are set up in College of Arts Sciences and Letters and in the College of Business. The presidential and vice-presidential debates are scheduled for March 29.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 26
Annoyed
posted 2/17/10 @ 10:46 PM EST
Can't wait to ignore yet another generation of idiots asking me to vote for their 'party' so that they can get 'things done.'
Also Annoyed
posted 2/19/10 @ 11:06 PM EST
The SG spent the last year arguing...and why is that the MOST obnoxious people run? Please don't chase me in the hallway for my vote. And also, stop trying to convince me you're going to bring an Olive Garden to the UC cafe. (Continued…)
Annoyed as well
posted 2/21/10 @ 5:35 PM EST
lol and agree at the comments above.
Boycott Israel
posted 2/23/10 @ 11:18 AM EST
I hope that SG will be voting soon for a resolution to boycott Israel.
After the Gaza Massacre, that should be pretty easy to do, and it will have a good impact on many campuses. (Continued…)
Student Government Senator
posted 2/24/10 @ 4:22 AM EST
Annoyed - I'm not a member of any organized political party; I'm a Democrat.
On a more serious note, I am sorry that you feel that way about Student Government; this is my first year as a Senator, and it can be quite discouraging at times, nonetheless, extremely productive at other times. (Continued…)
Boycott Israel
posted 2/24/10 @ 6:31 AM EST
I'm very glad to hear that a resolution calling on the Board of Regents in Ann Arbor to form a committee to look into unethical investments was passed last night at the SG meeting. (Continued…)
Jenny Adkins
Jenny Adkins
posted 2/24/10 @ 6:26 PM EST
I wrote an article ages ago expressing how annoying it is to be stalked by the parties.
Out of principle, I don't vote in the elections (and seeing that these are my final months on the campus, I could care less). (Continued…)
hsali
"Boycott Israel" is an idiot
posted 2/24/10 @ 9:39 PM EST
@ Boycott Israel,
You are an idiot to the highest degree. A true and absolute idiot... Seriously, you are a moron. Just a really, really stupid person. (Continued…)
Boycott Israel
posted 2/24/10 @ 10:50 PM EST
If you didn't notice, Israel keeps threatening to bomb Iran, a ntion of 76 million people. Israel already massacred Gaza, which is defenseless.
Boycotting Israel is the least we should do for humanity. (Continued…)
Student Government Senator
posted 2/25/10 @ 2:37 AM EST
Mr. Boycott Israel person,
Self-righteousness is a delusion, so unless you're a professional psychiatrist I suggest you save your breath for an argument that is more feasible in terms of making a point (a rather good one in this case), which wouldn't go unwarranted. (Continued…)
Post a Comment