ASUSU election problem solved
Because of a failure to disseminate applications at Utah State University Extension locations, a candidate whose application came in late will be allowed to run for Extension vice president for the Associated Students of USU.
Extension student Jacob Steele was unable to submit an application before the deadline. But this year’s ASUSU Executive Council voted unanimously to allow him to enter the race after speaking with the other four candidates and getting their consent.
“It was more our fault than his,” said Public Relations Vice President Marni Jenkins. It is the Public Relations vice president whose job it is, according to the ASUSU constitution, to oversee and plan elections for the following year’s officers.
A bylaw in the ASUSU constitution requires application packets be made available to all students by the first week in December.
Jenkins said the applications were made available to USU students at the Logan campus but were not sent out to Extension students in time.
“We tried to correct our mistake by catching [Steele] up to speed,” Jenkins said. To ensure this problem will not occur again, Jenkins said a note will be put into the charter requiring the Public Relations vice president to work more closely with the Extensions vice president around election time in the future.
No hard feelings were felt by the other four candidates toward the Extension student, and they say they welcome his competition.
“I feel that this student should have an opportunity to run and not be penalized because of this situation. Clearly the lines of communication were crossed and this student was not afforded the same chance as the rest of the candidates,” said Extension vice president candidate Tad Thornton. “Extension students are usually non-traditional students and should be represented by someone who understands the difficulties they face. Although this may make the chance of winning this election more difficult, I believe the competition in the end will benefit the students that attend the Extension sites.”
Candidate Joel D. Hyde agreed. “I think it is great to see students from Extension campuses want to get more involved,” he said. “I think it is great that he is running and I think that the election committee made the right decision.”
“It is unfortunate that the candidate didn’t know about the application deadline,” said candidate Katie Alvord. “I don’t think it’s his fault for not getting the application in on time for this reason. I would only hope that such a mistake won’t happen again.”
Elections for ASUSU Executive Council offices, which include Extensions vice president as well as several other vice presidential and senatorial spots, begin next week with primary elections.
Voting in the primaries will take place Thursday and Friday. Winners of the primaries will be announced Friday afternoon, and then the final elections will take place the following week, with voting on Feb. 28 and March 1.