Every election season, voters face a crucial question.
To vote or not to vote?
With a historical low of only 44 votes cast in ASCC’s April election, many students opted not to vote.
The ASCC Election Code, Article V, Item F, says, “The seven (7) Senators are elected by plurality. To be elected, candidates for Senator must receive at least fifty (50) votes.”
So, was the election valid?
ASCC Advisor and Student Life Supervisor Rosario Garcia said, due to the pandemic, “an exception was made to allow students to win with a simple majority of the votes.”
The election left some positions on the ASCC Executive Board unfilled, including president and vice president.
“Per the ASCC constitution, once the ASCC Executive Board members begin their terms, they will have the opportunity to nominate and elect one of their board members to serve as president for the 2021-2022 academic year,” Garcia said in an email interview.
Normally the campus comes alive during elections with flyers, candidates holding posters and students handing out buttons.
Incoming ASCC Student Trustee Taylor McNeal said seeing students campaigning around campus helps attract attention to elections.
“It almost makes you interested like, oh, what does this person have to say? Or what are they going to do that influences me as a student?” McNeal said.
This year, with an entirely online election, she said, “It’s almost like it’s not real.”
Not only did students not see the candidates, but the candidates also said they found it difficult to campaign.
Incoming Senator Jessie San said without the coffee meetings, handshakes and 10-minute class breaks, making connections was difficult.
“It’s so hard to interact with students when all you are is a microphone and a camera,” San said.
Yet, digital platforms like Discord and WeChat helped her reach more people, she said.
Technology may have helped spread campaign messages, but for some, it made voting harder.
Garcia said elections have been online since 2017. Both she and Dean of Students Maryann Tolano-Leveque said voting accessibility was not an issue.
However, for many students, voting this year was difficult due to broken voting links.
“I had to contact IT, and they had to Zoom with me like two or three times, try to fix it,” McNeal said. “They said that they were having problems with other students too.”
Waiting to go back in person is one solution. But to get more students to vote, incoming Senator Hala Fakhoury said ASCC needs more recognition among students.
She suggested using advertising, alerts, announcements and open meetings to increase voter turnout.
Despite the technical issues, incoming ASCC members encouraged voting.
“I definitely think it’s important to vote,” San said. “And this isn’t just on a school level. Statewide level, regionally, international level. … When it comes to voting, that’s really your voice as a student to choose the leaders that are going to be guiding your campus.”
In addition to few students voting, only five students ran to fill ASCC’s 11 elected positions. Garcia said there will be no election in July, the only positions now open being appointed roles.
To encourage students to run, San said the opportunity needs to be made known. Students need to be able to connect to current ASCC members so they can ask questions, she said.
“It’s different reading it from the constitution of how to serve as an officer than asking someone who is currently in the position,” San said.
Incoming Senator Daniel Caldera said being an elected leader is a valuable position to hold for networking and building confidence.
“We need to focus more on the benefits of holding an elected seat while also getting people excited that they have a chance to make strides in the right direction so others may follow,” Caldera said.
McNeal said joining the student government has many perks like building “a community of people that are as strong-minded and as willing for change for the better of students.”
She said she wants to help increase access to mental health resources and “get students to campus as quick as possible and as COVID safe as possible.”
Fakhoury said she is looking forward to getting more involved in Citrus and gaining leadership skills that “are important for any major, any pathway you want to take.”
San said her goal is to serve the community and help students enjoy Citrus as much as she does.
“We’re moving so fast as a two-year college,” she said. “I want students to be able to feel that passion and experience Citrus while they are here.”
Caldera said it “comes with a great honor to serve the student body,” and he aims to serve the Citrus students and be a voice for highlighting and addressing their concerns.
Garcia and Tolano-Leveque both said they expect campaigning and involvement to increase when students return to campus.
“The next academic year will look different from this year,” Garcia said.
Students who are interested in running for office in the future can refer to the Citrus College Student Affairs website for information.
