Heading to the polls

Election may set new record

Students are well on their to setting a new record.

After one day of voting, they have already tallied nearly 4,000 total votes in this term's student government elections.

By midnight last night, 3,758 students had cast ballots in the Michigan Student Assembly, LSA Student Government and University of Michigan Engineering Council elections. A mere 85 voters used traditional paper polling sites located in Angell Hall and Pierpont Commons.

LSA senior Jason Bitman casts his vote for MSA in Angell Hall yesterday

MSA Elections Director Andrew Serowik said voter turnout in this semester's MSA elections after its first day was "impressive" compared to previous years.

If this rate keeps up, Serowik said, "it looks like we're on track for a record-breaking turnout."

LSA junior Mike Dorrell, who was one of the students who voted at a paper polling site yesterday, said voting was "pretty easy."

Manning the deserted Angell Hall polling site at noon yesterday, Rackham Rep. Suzanne Owen said, "I think most people are voting electronically."

As of 10 p.m. last night, the 2,059 electronic votes cast for LSA-SG nearly surpassed the estimated 2,200 students that voted electronically during winter elections in 1998.

Members of all three parties and some independent candidates were involved in last minute campaigning yesterday.

Handing out quarter sheets in the Diag, Students' Party LSA-SG vice presidential candidate Mehul Madia said, "It's seems like people are pretty responsive."

In addition to Students' Party members, candidates from the Blue Party and the Defend Affirmative Action party were also campaigning on the Diag.

MSA Blue Party candidate Glen Roe said "people are very receptive of what the Blue Party stands for."

Defend Affirmative Action Party candidate Courtney Rawls also said she received positive feedback from students while handing out literature on the party's candidates at the Diag.

"A lot of people indicated that they were interested in DAAP," Rawls said.

But the number of fliers candidates are handing out may be causing negative effects on student voting.

LSA sophomore Paul Jenkins said, "Those fliers that they hand out at the Diag are really annoying. They make me not want to vote for anybody."

Also, making its first public appearance in costume, the independent slate of the Invisible Man and A Superhero named Tony, who are running for MSA executive posts, announced their platform on the Diag yesterday. "Our platform is the lack thereof," Tony said.

"I have no super power powers and neither do any of these guys," Tony added, speaking of his opponents in the MSA executive race.

After hearing the duo's platform yesterday, LSA first-year student Dana Lefkowitz said, "This makes a stronger statement than any other types of campaigns I've seen this year."

Lefkowitz added that she plans to cast her vote for the dynamic duo.

A Super hero named Tony and the Invisible Man, running for MSA vice president and president, try to sway voters on the Diag yesterday. CHRIS CAMPERNEL/Daily

.

03-25-99