At 12:30 p.m. last Friday, students finally found out who would be going into a run-off for the Presidency of the Student Association. Even that late at night, there was excitement and celebration.
But the results were supposed to be released at 9:30 p.m. What happened in the three hours between? Largely nothing. People stood around. Every half hour starting around 10:30, they would announce the winners of one of the smaller contests...after reading off the hundreds of write-ins for each post.
The website for the Joint Elections Committee said:
We ask that people begin gathering in Columbian Square starting around 9:00pm. The results will be announced as soon as possible after that.I don't know about you, but where I'm from...12:30 isn't as soon as possible after 9.
And the worst part is, the results are all electronic! I realize that they need to verify the votes, and check to see if any of the write-ins are legitimate, but come on! Reading them all off, going by them one by one, doesn't that seem a little bit unnecessary? George W. Bush, even if he had won, is not going to come serve as CCAS-U Senator. And though I was happy that somebody had written me in for that very same post (As you can tell, it was a very tough competition between me and the former President), I don't really care.
So here's what I'm proposing, and somebody tell me if I'm crazy:
1. Get rid of the write-in spot unless there are less candidates than there are positions. Unless:
2. Somebody registers in advance to be a write-in candidate. This is the way it's done in Connecticut, and it saves the registrars of voters days in counting unnecessary ballots.
Maybe next year we can ensure that this all runs a lot more smoothly.
3 comments:
Tim Miller just loves the sound of his own voice so much he extends it for 4 hours. Did you see him walk in with the JEC tools? They are in a single file line, walking silently, with Tim Miller in the front, a stern expression his face. They move swiftly across Columbian Square into the makeshift VIP area past the velvet rope.
Tim Miller drones into the microphone. People cheer for him. Tim Miller smiles like a goofy 10 year old who just opened a new shiny red firetruck on Christmas morning. He basks in the glory of the fact that he is a mildly important administrator at a mid-size University and has the authority to veto budgets and discipline leaders of organizations run by 20 year olds. His smile widens as some brave soul in the crowd yells "Tim Miller sucks!" and is met with a chorus of boos.
The results could be compiled and announced by 9:30pm. But then Tim wouldn't get to enter fashionably late and give his best Zoolander impression as he strides across the room with his chest puffed out. Tim Miller--the ultimate GW tool.
Actually, it was a red corvette, not a firetruck when I was 10 years old.
Tim Miller <3
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