By: Phoebe Harris
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – Monday, March 4 kicked off the 2024 Associated Student Government General Election. This election is for Associated Student Government Executive Offices, and all seats in the Senate.
All undergraduate students currently enrolled in University of Arkansas are eligible to vote in the General Election: ASG President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer as well as Referendum Issue #1, a bill to create a referendum to change the membership development coordinator position title to freshman leadership forum coordinator. ASG said this change would reflect the evolving nature of the Freshman Leadership Forum Coordinator role and ASG’s membership development programs. The title of Membership Development Coordinator would be changed to Freshman Leadership Coordinator and the Associate Membership Program would be abolished. Additionally, non-FLF Membership Development Coordinator responsibilities would be divided between President, Director of Programming, and Director of Special Events. If passed, this question would result in an internal change to the Associated Student Government for the purpose of adapting ASG executive positions to meet the needs of the organization and student body. This will have no impact on student’s fees or tuition.
Courtney Thompson, Chief Justice of Associated Student Government, said this has been a month-long process, and encourages people to educate themselves on the candidates.
“The candidates have several campaigning stations around campus, like Pete’s Fountain, the Union Mall, and the business plaza,” Thompson said.
Thompson also said they had debates last week, that students can watch on the ASG Reels tab on their Instagram. Throughout the last month, candidates have been conducting “soft campaigning,” while attending several other meetings along with the debates.
ASG supports several campus programs and initiatives while allocating approximately $250,000 to Registered Student Organizations each year. The Associated Student Government is split into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The three branches work together to strive for the betterment of the organization and the University of Arkansas as a whole. The vision of the University of Arkansas’ Associated Student Government is to represent the common interests and voice of all undergraduate students through an educational experience of shared governance in the University’s decision and policy making process. The purpose of the Associated Student Government is to act as an organized voice for all undergraduate students at the University of Arkansas, to effectively represent undergraduate students in the University’s decision and policy making process, and to provide a broad educational experience for undergraduate students while promoting citizenship on campus and in the greater community.
Voting began today, Monday, March 5, at 9:00 a.m. and was followed with an ASG election cookout that took place from 12 to 2 p.m. Voting closes Wednesday, March 6 at 4:00 p.m. All election violation complaints must be received by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday to the Office of Student Activities. Judicial branch will certify the election results on Thursday, March 7. Election results will be announced Friday morning at 10 a.m. from the Union South Terrace.
“We try to get as much campus-wide involvement in our election as we can,” said Thompson, “even the smallest percent of voters can make a difference in this election. Students don’t realize how much student government interacts with admin on campus and they really advocate for the students, so students need to make sure that they’re making the choice on who they want to be their voice.”