Student senators elected differently throughout Ohio

by Erica Ryan
Staff Writer

Campus Editor's Note: This is the first article in a week-long series about Ohio University's Student Senate elections. The Post will cover the parties' platforms in-depth in Tuesday's edition.

While the Vision and Strive parties continue to battle for support in the Ohio University Student Senate election on May 17, newly elected student government leaders across Ohio already are adapting to their new roles.

Miami University student government executives, such as the president and vice president, took office March 6, President Jeffery Griffiths said. But student senators there are not elected until the fall.

At Miami, petitions circulate in January and students have two and a half weeks to campaign before the primary elections, Griffiths said. Students who receive 50 percent of the primary vote win automatically.

After the primaries at Miami, candidates have two additional weeks to campaign before general elections, Griffiths said.

OU elections also start with petitions, but no primary election exists, said Mike Sostarich, vice president for student affairs. Candidates begin campaigning 30 days before the election, and senators and executives are elected at once.

At the University of Toledo and Wright State University, the election process is more similar to OU's.

Elections take place in the spring without a primary, said Jeremy Heffner, UT Student Government president. But UT elections are intense.

"Things get pretty heated," Heffner said. "Lawyers were almost involved this year."

But candidates at other schools rarely run with party affiliations.

This aspect of OU's campaign simplifies campaigning and allows students to cooperate on their goals, Sostarich said. Parties must register as a student organization to place the party name on the ballot.

At UT, Miami and Wright State candidates are restricted to a campaign-spending cap, which OU does not have.

Individual candidates at Miami can spend as much as $300 in their campaigns, Griffiths said.

At UT, the cap per candidate is $1,200, no more than $1,000 of which can be raised off campus, Heffner said.

Both Miami and UT executives said they spent close to the cap on this year's campaign.

At Wright State, the executive campaign-spending limit is $500 per candidate, Duiker said. He spent around $310 on this year's campaign.

Last year, OU's Vision and ONE parties spent $5,201 and $1,732 respectively, according to a June 2, 2000 Post article. Vision won 29 of 33 positions on last year's election day.

Candidates at all four schools must raise campaign funds themselves.

OU senators have discussed using online voting to make the ballots more convenient.

Students have the opportunity to use online voting at Miami, Griffiths said. A student identification number protects the votes.

But few schools have implemented the method so far.

Wright State will use online voting in next spring's elections, President Neal Duiker said. This year election officials used paper ballots for senators and electronic voting for executives.

UT uses Scantron ballots, an electronic voting system, Heffner said.

Last year, OU elections officials also used Scantron ballots.

But OU will return to paper ballots this year to prevent students from voting multiple times and alleviate confusion, Sostarich said.

"Also, having polling locations adds to the excitement of election day," he said.

Student executive compensation also varies across the state.

For example, the president and vice president of UT's student government receive full tuition and fees, as well as $200 each semester for books, Heffner said. They also receive a $250 stipend every two weeks for cost-of-living expenses.

OU's president receives a full-tuition waiver and the vice president and treasurer each receive half-tuition waivers, Sostarich said.

But not just anyone can be a student government executive.

Candidates at all four universities must be in good academic standing, with a GPA of 2.0 or higher. At most schools, candidates must be full-time students as well.