2008 Woodie Awards
ASG boasts high voter turnout in election
Stacey Skotzko
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Campus
The real winners in this year's Associated Student Government (ASG) elections may have been Miami University students rather than the candidates, as election turnout Friday surpassed the 2005 election, which was the highest in recent years.
"Turnout was really great, it was almost 5,000 people," said Ben Lingeman, current executive vice president for ASG and head of the elections committee. "I'm really proud."
Lingeman accredits the high numbers - 4,450 students voted in the general election, which is approximately one-fourth of the undergraduate student body - to the accessibility of voting on Blackboard.
"It couldn't have gone better," Lingeman said.
An announcement was posted on myMiami's homepage Friday, and students were able to vote through a process that was similar to an online quiz, Lingeman explained. He said that the simplicity and familiarity of the format worked in ASG's favor.
Lingeman also said that because of Blackboard, and help from Miami University's Information Technology (IT) Services, tabulating the votes was simple and instantaneous.
ASG's adviser and associated vice president for student affairs, Dennis Roberts, was also happy with student turnout, saying that it was "respectable" and high in comparison to other institutions' student government elections.
"These are good numbers, but I wish they were higher," Roberts said.
Lingeman said that publicity for the general elections worked a bit differently this year. He believes that ASG's work with "actively distributing" The Voice, which is ASG's candidate profile pamphlet and used to inform student voters, worked better than simply having the pamphlet available at ASG publicity tables. Lingeman said that ASG went to places such as Scott Hall and Bell Tower to hand out The Voice. For now, Lingeman said the elections committee only needs to reevaluate a few procedures from this election and then its work will be complete.
The candidates themselves are also taking a moment to pause and reflect on the outcome of Friday's election.
"Turnout was really great, it was almost 5,000 people," said Ben Lingeman, current executive vice president for ASG and head of the elections committee. "I'm really proud."
Lingeman accredits the high numbers - 4,450 students voted in the general election, which is approximately one-fourth of the undergraduate student body - to the accessibility of voting on Blackboard.
"It couldn't have gone better," Lingeman said.
An announcement was posted on myMiami's homepage Friday, and students were able to vote through a process that was similar to an online quiz, Lingeman explained. He said that the simplicity and familiarity of the format worked in ASG's favor.
Lingeman also said that because of Blackboard, and help from Miami University's Information Technology (IT) Services, tabulating the votes was simple and instantaneous.
ASG's adviser and associated vice president for student affairs, Dennis Roberts, was also happy with student turnout, saying that it was "respectable" and high in comparison to other institutions' student government elections.
"These are good numbers, but I wish they were higher," Roberts said.
Lingeman said that publicity for the general elections worked a bit differently this year. He believes that ASG's work with "actively distributing" The Voice, which is ASG's candidate profile pamphlet and used to inform student voters, worked better than simply having the pamphlet available at ASG publicity tables. Lingeman said that ASG went to places such as Scott Hall and Bell Tower to hand out The Voice. For now, Lingeman said the elections committee only needs to reevaluate a few procedures from this election and then its work will be complete.
The candidates themselves are also taking a moment to pause and reflect on the outcome of Friday's election.
Be the first to comment on this story