Presidential debate stalled by presence of write-in candidate
The ASUSU presidential election debate was postponed for 15 minutes Monday because of a write-in candidate’s appeal to the Utah State University Supreme Court for permission to participate in the debate.
Matt Croshaw, a write-in candidate for ASUSU president, lost in the primaries by fewer than 40 votes to Taylor Leavitt. Croshaw, at the request of several people, has decided to keep campaigning.
“I feel really good about the outcome. I don’t have a problem losing, but I received an overwhelming response to be a write-in candidate,” Croshaw said. He had requested to be included in the debate but was denied by the Election Committee. He had the option of appealing to the USU Supreme Court, which would have delayed the debate for at least one day.
Ben Riley, current ASUSU president, Steve Palmer, presidential candidate, Leavitt and Croshaw talked about the situation as the time the debate was to begin came and went. Randy Jensen, director of Student Activities, and Tiffany Evans, associate director of Student Activities, were both on hand to offer advice.
Fifteen minutes later, Marni Jenkins, Public Relations vice president and chairman of the Elections Committee, stood at the lectern and said, “Sorry about the delay. We’re going to continue with the debate between Taylor Leavitt and Steve Palmer.”
Croshaw decided not to make the appeal.
“I made the decision not to appeal. I wasn’t forced,” Croshaw said. “They [the elections committee] would have postponed it. But it would have been making a mountain out of a mole hill.”
Croshaw said he didn’t make the appeal “out of respect for Taylor and Steve. I think they’re good guys.”
Leavitt and Palmer first presented their platforms. Palmer said he wants to incorporate better communication between ASUSU and the student body by forming a student advisory council. He said he wants to involve the extension students more and put the “A” back on the mountain.
Leavitt said he would like to promote a tuition payment plan so students could pay tuition fees in increments over an extended period of time. He said he wants adviser evaluations, and would like to lobby to the Board of Regents and the Utah State Legislature.
The candidates were asked questions on subjects ranging from tuition hikes to when the first “Star Wars” movie came out.
“The [scholarship] money needs to increase with the tuition,” Leavitt said.
“There’s a lot of money out there for students. We just need to increase understanding on how to get it,” Palmer said.”
Palmer and Leavitt were asked how they would increase communication between students and ASUSU representatives.
“Our student government does everything possible to get out and help every student. The problem is, we don’t reach every student,” Palmer said.
“I believe when people receive individual attention they feel their opinions are better expressed than when they have to present them in a large group,” Leavitt said.
One question asked was who holds the NBA record for points scored in a single game and how many points.
A curly-haired man in a blue sports jersey said, “If you don’t know this, you’re stupid.”
Both candidates knew it was Wilt Chamberlain, but neither knew the point total – 100.
“Gosh, I’m leaving,” said the man in the blue jersey, walking out of the International Lounge.
The two candidates agreed on issues from not moving the Greeks, keeping Glenn Miller, promoting diversity and not cheating.
When asked how to keep representatives from slacking, Palmer said he supported a bill that would audit the performance of representatives.
“I would recommend that we hold students to an audit,” Palmer said.
Leavitt said though representatives sometimes experience burn out, as a whole they do a good job.
“We need to look at the track record,” he said.
A person in the audience asked what the candidates would do about some apparent confusion with election by-laws.
“It’s too hazy,” Palmer said. “We need to sit down and define so these things don’t happen next year.”
“It’s true there are some loopholes. Some people feel short-changed. It’s a hard subject,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt and Palmer finished the debate by asking everybody to get informed about the qualifications and the platform of each candidate.
After the debate, Leavitt and Palmer spoke together about the possible effects of Croshaw’s write-in campaign.
“It basically tells the students that we don’t care about your democratic process. As a person, I love [Croshaw]. He’s a good friend,” Leavitt said.
“There shouldn’t be an option to jump back in,” Palmer said. “I don’t agree with the way it was handled. We’ll just have to forget about it and keep campaigning.”
Tuesday, the Latter-day Saint Student’s Association held an election forum in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Institute of Religion. Croshaw was allowed to participate in this event. Among the questions asked was “Why are write-in candidates important to democracy?”
“I think write-in candidates offer a different choice,” Croshaw said.
“I think write-in candidates are important to democracy. That is something that is constitutionally supported. If that’s the best leadership we can find, then we need to vote for them,” Palmer said.
“It’s something that I’m learning can be an asset to any society. I respect anyone who decides to do it,” Leavitt said.