MSA elections hit closing moments

Sarron Langhold went to Angell Hall yesterday with the sole purpose of finishing his paper.

But Langhold did more than he expected. He ended up voting online for the Michigan Student Assembly representatives.

Yesterday was the last chance for candidates to get their name out and encourage student voters to visit the polls.

Students have another option when casting their ballots - voters may choose to vote online for convenience measures.

Langhold said he visited the individual candidates' Websites to choose who to vote for.

KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily Bill Briggs, an LSA junior, campaigns for a spot as LSA representative in this week's Michigan Student Assembly elections.

"I think MSA made it a lot easier to vote," said Langhold, an LSA senior. "It's important to be involved."

MSA Vice President Olga Savic said it is difficult to get a good estimate of the number of voters.

"It looks slow to me," Savic said. "Computer voting makes it difficult to know."

Savic said she planned to vote online after completing a paper.

"I support my party. They are a good list of candidates," said Savic, a member of the Students' Party. "(It's) closure of all the hard work candidates have put into the elections."

MSA President Mike Nagrant said "by 12 p.m. Wedneday, around 1,300 people voted online."

"I assume the afternoon is when voting picks up," Nagrant said.

Kinesiology Rep. Brad Holcman, who is running with the Michigan Party, said he has relied more on word of mouth than campaigning. Holcman said he hasn't spent "a single dollar."

LSA sophomore Nera Duffy, who volunteered at the Angell Hall polls, said voter turnout was not as low as she thought.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be," Duffy said. "I am going to vote on the Internet after I read something about each person."

Pak Man Shuen, who heads the United Rebels Front party, said campaigning was calmer in the second day of elections.

"(URF) decided to give the voters a cool-down period to think about who they should vote for," Shuen said.

LSA junior Sharon Herrick said both methods of voting are easy for students.

"I voted yesterday morning. I knew exactly who I was voting for," Herrick said. "Students should vote if they know what is going on."

Martin Howrylak, who heads the Liberty Party, said he voted by ballot because he does not think paper ballot will be around for much longer. Howrylak said many students are not familiar with MSA.

Howrylak predicted that the demise of the paper ballot is manifested in online voting. Within a year or two, he said, paper ballots will cease to exist.

"I voted by paper. I'm a traditionalist," Howrylak said.

Alex Johnson, who campaigned for the Defend Affirmative Action Party, said he thinks DAAP has raised awareness on campus.

"I think our actions have certainly developed consciousness," Johnson said.

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