JULIANA STUMPP
STAFF WRITER
The ASI special elections, being held the last week of classes, will have many new names on the ballot after the candidate scandal that declared the original election results invalid.
ASI Board of Directors’ choice to start the elections from scratch means that candidates from the first election would have to reapply and campaign once again. This also meant new candidates could appear on the voting poll.
The polls will be open online from Monday May 7 at 7 a.m. through Thursday May 10 at 5 p.m. Results of the election will be announced Friday May 11 at noon in FCB 5-103.
Candidate applications became available on April 11 online. Candidates had to attend a mandatory meeting the following week and the applications were due April 20. According to Election Code 602, all candidates are allowed campaigning two weeks prior to elections, which began April 23 and will end May 10.
Candidate open forums will be on May 3 and May 8 during U-Hour at University Hall Plaza.
Associate Executive Director of ASI, Sara Gallegos said, “This election is a brand new election, and I’m hoping that we can have a clean race. I’m hoping that students will still vote even though it’s during a busy time of year.”
CSUSM student turn out for elections has been low in prior years. Approximately 10 percent of the student population voted in the 2011 elections, according to ASI presidential candidate Scott Silviera.
“We actually have more applicants and candidates running than the election in March. My hopes are that is a sign that the students will still continue with their involvement,” said Gallegos.
During the original March elections, there were 22 people running in total. This special election has 27 candidates. Gallegos said, “We have new faces that have stepped up as well as those who ran in the first election.”
Running for ASI President are Scott Silviera and Nicholas Jaffari. Vice President of Operations candidates are Yeltsin Gonzalez and Audrey Juarez. Sammi Carr, Oscar Reyes and Cipriano Vargas will be campaigning for VP of External Affairs, while Mason Smith and Grant Lattimore are running for VP Finance. For VP Marketing Jason Gonzales, Eliasar Molina and Colton Walsh will be candidates for this new election.
Candidates for representatives include Sarah Do, Israel Irizarry, Samuel Robinson, Saul Serano, Anthony Mercadante, Blaine Mogil, Jordan Moore, John Caiozzo, Alex Evzerov and Dominica Ranieri.
People running for Student at Large representative include Daniel Cruz, Scott Gordon, Karen Guzman, Kenneth LaLonde and Turner Ward.
LaLonde originally ran for VP of Marketing and is now running for Student at Large Representative.
On the ASI Election webpage, http://www.csusm.edu/asi/bod/asielections.html, there is a link to vote and the YouTube campaign statements for most candidates.