The University of Iowa Student Government is a highly competitive organization on campus. Last spring, 13 students ran as independents in hopes of becoming UISG senators. Only six spots are reserved for independents each election cycle.
But some candidates seem to be given an easier option. They run on tickets made up of 32 senators picked by the president and vice president hopefuls. Each ticket has its own platform, and each election cycle, only one ticket wins. Problematically, last year, only one ticket ran. So the students selected to run on this ticket ran unopposed.
I believe that innovation, competition, and change should be welcomed. Because of this, I think that there should be more seats reserved for independents.
I had the pleasure of speaking to Bridgeen Lynch, one of the 13 students who ran as independents in the last election cycle. “In my opinion, all the people who were on the ticket were friends with one another; it was not a fair mixed group,” Lynch said.
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The feeling that Lynch has is not specific to student government. Someone can easily feel that an organization favors the friends and even the family of who is in charge. For example, if my close family friend was a partner at a law firm and I got an internship with it, this could potentially be unfair. Maybe I got the internship because I truly am more qualified, but maybe I got it because my family friend works there. Either way, it looks suspicious.
Lynch proceeded to run as an independent. She campaigned her heart out but lost by a devastating six votes.
“It is sad to see only one ticket running; it is a little heartbreaking no one is getting involved,” Lynch said.
I asked UISG Sen. Nazira Coury what her position is on the election process. She told to me that the most alarming part, in her opinion, is the way tickets are formed. Everyone who is running as a senator, independent or through a ticket, must attend a formal meeting about the election code. Coury said that a lot of people came to these meetings and were interested in running. She noted that many people who were previously unaffiliated with student government were confused about how to get involved, because they were not allowed to apply in any sort of formal way to be considered for a ticket Senate position.
“I do think adding more independents would be beneficial,” Coury said.
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Because there are 50 senators in total, and 32 are elected via a ticket that ensures they share the same ideologies, the ticket senators will hold the majority. The system is set up in a way that makes the ticket automatically hold a majority of votes. If fewer senators were allowed to run on tickets, more senators would be allowed to run independently, which is where new faces tend to show.