Election results overdue

Six months after SG presidential election, numbers not released

Six months after Erin Williams was announced as president of Ferris student government, election results have still not been released.

“The numbers and statistics for the last presidential election are not public information, as student government has informed the Torch before,” Williams wrote in an email received at 9:41 a.m. on Oct 30.

Williams told the Torch she has never seen the results herself.

A legal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was submitted by the Torch at 4 p.m. on Oct. 30 in an attempt to access the open records information. As of press time, no information had been provided.

FOIA requests are used to access public records. They can be utilized by anyone and commonly used by journalists.

The FOIA was sent to Student Government President Erin Williams, Dean of Student Life Leroy Wright, interim Vice President of Student Affairs Don Flickinger and Vice President and General Council Miles Postema. Wright is the student government advisor and Postema is the Ferris FOIA coordinator.

The Torch reporter covering student government requested the vote breakdown following the online election that took place on OrgSync for a period of three days near the end of March.

Last spring, the Torch reported on April 3 Erin Williams won the election over Travis Hill. Two others received write-in votes, but numbers were not given. Williams will graduate in December, and Andrew Kalinowski will take over the position.

When the Torch resumed publishing in September, multiple people were contacted in attempts to access these records.

Williams directed the Torch to recently resigned Internal Assessment Director of Student Government Jacob VanBoxel. VanBoxel directed the Torch to Student Activities Specialist Teresa Fogel who then directed the Torch back to Willams.

Reporting on election results is a common practice in newsrooms.

During city elections, the results are given hourly upon request to the Pioneer, the Big Rapids Newspaper by the county clerk’s office, according to Pioneer reporter Lauren Fitch.

“[The county clerk’s office will] usually have final results in the night of the election,” Fitch said. “They also try to update it online as they go so we can kind of get an idea of how close they are to having a final count. They’ll usually fax or e-mail us a sheet of the number of people that voted and how many total registered voters and how many said yes or no.”

Big Rapids long-time Mayor Mark Warba relayed the importance of knowing election results to the Torch.

“[Knowing election results] certainly is part of the needing to know, wanting to know, and the idea of transparency in elections that you report what the vote tallies were for respective candidates,” Warba said.

Warba ran unopposed for re-election on Tuesday.

“Even if there was opposition I think people need to know what the outcomes were, what the votes were, and I can’t think of a reason why if I was elected or not I would say ‘don’t print the election results; that shouldn’t be known,’” Warba said. “I think you have to accept that if you’re going to run for an elected office. The public in general should have that information available to them. “

Student government receives $1 per student each semester for operating costs. Student government uses much of their budget for the Big Event.

Each semester, the student government finance division receives a $20 student activity fee from the majority of enrolled students. This money can be allocated to registered student organizations.

According to Ferris staff member Deanna Goldthwait, Student Affairs Operations Analyst, the fall 2013 total is $159,018.

10 comments

To be honest…why write about this now? It’s November. The students have forgotten we HAD an election. Honestly, I would guess that only around 5-10% of the student population votes at all. And OrgSync is a terrible system. It’s highly possible the information is just gone.

To be honest…why write about this now? It’s November. The students have forgotten we HAD an election. Honestly, I would guess that only around 5-10% of the student population votes at all. And OrgSync is a terrible system. It’s highly possible the information is just gone.

The election is over now, so what? Just forget getting the results and move onto other things going on campus. You guys are being dishonest to a RSO who put in so much hard work

Lori,

If you’re interested in the topic, I’d like to encourage you to express your feelings in a letter to the editor which would be published with your name. The Torch appreciates feedback and would be interested for you to elaborate.

Regarding the importance of the election results, it is clear that we have differing opinions. Perhaps I can shed some light on why the Torch has chosen to pursue this story.

In the United States and many other places around the world, it is believed that every vote symbolizes a voice. Voting is an opportunity for the person exercising that right to be heard, to hold elected officials accountable for their decisions and to have a say in important issues that affect the community. Democracy is a principle this nation was founded on and continues to value today.

Without elections results, which are traditionally readily available for anyone to view and more often than not publicized, why even vote?

Any governing agency that values openness, transparency and, above all, democracy, will not only understand our desire to publish the election results but also appreciate and respect it.

The election is over now, so what? Just forget getting the results and move onto other things going on campus. You guys are being dishonest to a RSO who put in so much hard work

Lori,

If you’re interested in the topic, I’d like to encourage you to express your feelings in a letter to the editor which would be published with your name. The Torch appreciates feedback and would be interested for you to elaborate.

Regarding the importance of the election results, it is clear that we have differing opinions. Perhaps I can shed some light on why the Torch has chosen to pursue this story.

In the United States and many other places around the world, it is believed that every vote symbolizes a voice. Voting is an opportunity for the person exercising that right to be heard, to hold elected officials accountable for their decisions and to have a say in important issues that affect the community. Democracy is a principle this nation was founded on and continues to value today.

Without elections results, which are traditionally readily available for anyone to view and more often than not publicized, why even vote?

Any governing agency that values openness, transparency and, above all, democracy, will not only understand our desire to publish the election results but also appreciate and respect it.

Whats the point in withholding the election information? Why not be transparent with the student body? Since after all, they are elected to represent us.

Whats the point in withholding the election information? Why not be transparent with the student body? Since after all, they are elected to represent us.

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