Daniel Luedert/DN
VOICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ANDY SCHUERMAN reacts to the news of next week’s runoff election during his party’s celebration at BW-3.
Wednesday’s ASUN election was too close to call, so a runoff election will be held next Wednesday to determine a winner.
Election too close to call
5
RUNOFF from page 1
Schreier and Jon England obtained 1,163.
For second vice president, Focus candidate
Trisha Meuret secured 1,212 votes, while
Vernon Miller received 1,034 for the Voice party.
The last runoff election between two parties’
candidates for president and first vice president
occurred in 1990, after that year’s Vision party
garnered 34 more votes in the general election
than the Today party’s 1,405 votes.
That year, a third party called Stand got 646
votes - about 23 percent of the total.
With the third party gone for the runoff,
Vision party candidates won by five votes March
21, 1990.
This year, however, there was no official
third party.
The runoff election next week will be similar
to the vote conducted Wednesday, except no
write-in candidates will be allowed. Electoral
Commission President Ryan Fuchs said.
Voter turnout was slightly lower this year
than last. Out of a possible 20,511 eligible stu
dent voters, 13.2 percent of them cast votes,
compared to 13.5 percent last year.
Marlene Beyke, ASUN director of develop
Voter turnout
1998 13.5 percent
1997 9.8 percent
1996 8.4 percent (18-year low)
1995 12.7 percent
1990 16.3 percent
(all-time high in the 1990s)
1999 13.2 percent of 20,511
eligible voters
Jon Frank/DN
ment, said the runoff may affect voter turnout
next week.
“Typically, it’s been harder to get students to
come out a second time,” Beyke said.
She said the outcome is now up to the candi
dates.
“It’s gomg to be a challenge for them to rally
their supporters again,” she said.
Contrary to the ballot process Wednesday,
the vote next week will be counted by hand.
On Wednesday, the ballots were collected
and run through a counting machine.
Fuchs said a close vote requires a hand
count.
“With a vote this close, students obviously
have a vested interest,” Fuchs said. “It will be a
vote by hand on Wednesday. This is a big deal.”
Beyke said a runoff had not been expected.
“There weren’t any signs that I saw,” she
said. “I knew it’d be a close race.”
Senate candidate and Focus representative
Kevin Naujokaitis said the run-off will allow
executive candidates to focus solely on their
campaigns.
“There won’t be senate candidates now,” he
said. “So, we’ll be able to concentrate on execu
tive positions.”
With no specific plans Wednesday night on
what events will take place this week,
Schuerman said the Voice party would continue
to use the same strategies to gain votes it have for
the past six weeks.
Work parties will begin again tomorrow, he
said.
Polls will be open for Wednesday’s runoff
election from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with polling sites
in the Nebraska Union, the Nebraska East
Union, the Campus Recreation Center, Neihardt
Residence Hall gold parlor. Harper Food
Service building and the Sandoz Residence Hall
'ounge.
All amendments on ballot fail
By Brian Carlson
Staff writer
All three proposed constitutional amendments
on the AS'UN ballot went down to defeat in
Wednesday 'selections.
To have been ratified, the amendments would
have had to gamer “yes” votes from two-thirds of
the students who voted.
Although each amendment received more
“yes” than “no” votes, none were approved by
two-thirds of the 2,709 students who voted,
according to unofficial results. Of the students
who voted about 500 chose not to vote on the
amendments.
One amendment would have increased the
number of elected senators from 35 to 40 and
changed the districts from which senators were
elected.
While academic units - colleges and divisions
- would have retained their 25 seats, the amend
ment would have allotted 10 seats for living umts
such as residence halls, greek houses and off-cam
pus living units. It also would have added five at
large seats elected by the entire student body.
With 40 percent of all who voted casting votes
in favor of the amendment, it failed.
Another amendment would have required a
senator representing the Division of Continuing
Studies to be enrolled in 12 credit hours, consis
tent with the requirements for senators from all
other academic units. Senate candidates from the
Division of Continuing Studies currently must be
enrolled m three credit hours.
Although twice as many students voted “yes”
as “no,” the amendment still gained just 55 percent
of the total vote.
The senate seat for the Division of Continuing
Studies has been vacant for more than six years.
The final amendment would have stripped the
ASUN first vice president of the authority to
remove senators who had missed three or more
meetings. The amendment would have allowed
the first vice president only to recommend that a
senator be removed after three absences.
This amendment failed with 41 percent of all
voters supporting it.
The constitutional amendments provided a
clear distinction between presidential candidates
Paul Schreier of Focus and Andy Schuerman of
Voice, who will face each other in a run-ofF elec
tion next week after neither gained a majority m
Wednesday’s election.
Schreier, whose party opposed the amend
ments, said the vote was a victory for students and
an approval of the current system.
“We won the amendments,” he said. “This is
what we wanted. I believe it is better for the stu
dents this way.”
Schuerman, whose party supported the
amendments, said that with more time and
resources, amendment supporters could have con
vinced students the amendments were in their best
interests.
“I think it’s mostly a case of under-education
and lack of promotion,” he said. “We know it’s so
much easier to vote no and stay with the status
quo, and it’s twice as difficult to educate. This just
demonstrates the need for more education.”
Staff writers leva Augstums and Kim Sweet
contributed to this report.
And the
winners are...
Unofficial votes for senate candidates.
Percentages based on votes cast, not count
ing write-in candidates. Only winners listed.
Total Senate Seats
Focus: 15
Voice: 8
Independent: 2
College of Agricultural Sciences and
Natural Resources
Matt Rasmussen (Focus) 254 (37.3 percent)
Kate Hutchens (Voice) 185 (27.2 percent)
College of Architecture
Vanessa Vap (Focus) 25 (51 percent)
College of Arts and Sciences
Beth Augustine (Voice) 301 (10.7 percent)
Urrvano Gamez Jr. (Focus) 268 (9.5 per
cent)
Heath Mello (Voice) 242 (8.6 percent)
Natalie Hoover (Voice) 238 (8.5 percent)
Jason Mashek (Focus) 227 (8.1 percent)
Mandi Guernsey (Focus) 201 (7.1 percent)
College of Business Administration
Jill Braband (Voice) 197 (14.4 percent)
Amy Rol (Independent) 186 (13.6 percent)
Ryan Comes (Focus) 182 (13.3 percent)
Adam Thompson (Voice) 150 (11 percent)
Continuing Studies
No one filed, write-ins to determine winner
Dentistry
No one filed, write-ins to determine winner
College of Engineering and Technology
Kevin Naujokaitis (Focus) 113 (23.8 per
cent)
Cody Northrop (Focus) 111 (23.4 percent)
College of Fine and Performing Arts
Erin Reitz (Independent) 28 (38.9 percent)
College of General Studies
Ronnie Patton (Voice) 103
Write-ins to determine other three positions
College of Graduate Studies V
Todd A. Erickson (Voice) 45
Write-ins to determine other five positions
College of Human Resources and Family
Sciences
Amy Ellis (Focus) 56 (65.1 percent)
College of Journalism and Mass
Communications
Beth Lee (Focus) 134 (73.6 percent)
College of Law
Jared B. Jennings (Focus) 9
College of Nursing
Christy Hamilton (Focus) 10 (71.4 percent)
College of Public Affairs and Community
Service
Cory “Goose” Osfermeyer (Focus) 12 (54.5
percent)
Teachers College
Jessica Steyer (Focus) 82 (21.7 percent)
John Grebe (Focus) 81 (21.4 percent)
Committee for Fees Allocation
Off Campus
No one filed, winners to be determined by
write-in v.
Greek Living Unit
Scott Peterson (Independent) 1,166 (70.2
percent)
Residence HaU
Jadd M. Stevens (Independent) 1,563
Write-in to determine other position
Compiled by staff writer Shane Anthony