By Elianna Novitch
The polls will open for the University of Iowa Student Government election at 8 a.m. today and close at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Voting can be done on students’ MyUI profiles.
Candidates encourage students to understand what kind of effect the UISG election has.“I think voting in the student-government elections is important because it provides students an opportunity to make their voice heard and endorse what they hope to see happen with the university and the next year’s administration,” presidential candidate Jacob Simpson said.
He is running on the BridgeUI ticket.
“I also think it’s important [to vote] because a good electoral turnout shows to university administration, to the Board of Regents, to the state that we as 24,000 undergraduates really care about the outcome of our elections and our advocacy,” Simpson said.
Voting in the UISG election is extremely simple, he said. Students can vote for a presidential and vice-presidential candidates and then 38 senatorial candidates. In this election, there is one official ticket and 13 independent senator candidates. There are four independent seats available.
“We want students to know and understand that they can vote for all members of the ticket if they want to individually or all together, while at the same time voting for four independent senators separately,” said BridgeUI vice-presidential candidate Lilián Sánchez. “We want to make sure that those who feel like they want to support certain independent senators understand that they can still support BridgeUI and vice versa.”
UISG President Rachel Zuckerman noted the effect low voter turnout can have in student-government elections.
“[Voter turnout] is much lower than I would hope it would be. Even lower than our national voter turnout, which is not great, either,” she said. “I think if students understood the importance of elections, they would be more apt to vote.”
Zuckerman pointed out that the decisions UISG makes and the work it does affects students’ daily lives. Student government can be effective or it can be useless, she said.
“It’s up to students to hold their elected officials accountable, and that starts with giving them electoral legitimacy by electing them with strong voter-turnout numbers,” Zuckerman said. “Then those student leaders in meetings with administrators or whoever can cite their voter-turnout data and say, ‘The vast majority of the student body is supportive of my ideas.’ ”
Candidates encourage students to be informed about for whom they vote and to ask any questions they may have.
“It is critical that you make your voice heard in this election. You should look at the platform of the ticket and of the independent senators,” Simpson said. “Make yourself aware of who is running, and provide your feedback on those platforms.”
Sánchez echoed the notion that students should be informed about the candidates.
“Make sure you do your research, and don’t be afraid to reach out to the candidates,” she said.
Winners of the election will be announced at 5 p.m. Friday in the IMU Hubbard Commons.
“I encourage students to take this decision seriously because these students who are elected will go on to represent you at Board of Regents’ meetings, they will represent you in front of the governor, and they will represent you in front of administration on a daily basis,” Zuckerman said. “And beyond electing them, hold them accountable once they’re in office to serve you.”