USC Undergraduate Student Government elections start today. Until Feb 25, 2022 at 11:59 PM, students can cast their vote online or in front of Tommy Trojan. Many students have spoken out on the issue of who is listed on the ballot.
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In-person voters came to Tommy Trojan to vote and left with a donut courtesy of the USG Elections Commission. Despite the sweet treat, some students were upset with the election. This included sophomore writing for screen and television major Maurielle McGarvey.
MAURIELLE MCGARVEY: It’s kind of a sham in a lot of ways. I think that it’s very, like, catered towards a singular perspective.
The controversy started after the Weston Bell-Geddes and Erica Wang ticket withdrew from the election, leaving Hannah Woodworth and Nivea Krishnan as the only candidates running for president and vice president. This prompted two new tickets: Rachel Lee and Collin Colson, as well as Kyle Valdes and Safal Mengi.
Write-in Vice President candidate, Collin Colson is a sophomore writing for screen and television major. He stood 50 feet away from the polling location with a sign telling students to vote for his ticket. He has an issue write in candidates not being on the ballot.
COLLIN COLSON: I think it’s not very democratic to just have one ticket on the ballot. And so, I mean, we’re making a lot of noise about it. It doesn’t look like things are going to change, but if we get elected, they certainly will.
Presidential candidate Hannah Woodworth, a junior journalism major responded to the criticism of write-in candidates not being on the ballot during the USG Presidential debate.
HANNAH WOODWORTH: I direct that question to the election commission. As candidates, we have no power over how the write-ins work.
The Kyle Valdes and Safal Mengi ticket have also been vocal about not being physically on the ballot, but want a more accessible USC. Junior business administration major and presidential write-in candidate Kyle Valdes opened the debate with this statement.
KYLE VALDES: And really, we really want everybody to have a chance to pursue their college experience without any barriers.
Jesse Zhang is a junior biochemistry and philosophy major and election commissioner. He has a solution to the feedback.
JESSE ZHANG: The first thing that you can do is you can file a complaint on the U.S. elections website. And second of all, you can always look at the elections code, which is public on the website as well.
He maintains his emphasis on the importance of voting.
ZHANG: I encourage everyone to vote. The voting period is today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Students can enjoy their donut reward after voting in person. Those who opt to vote online can enter into a gift card raffle. If that’s not incentive enough to vote, then what is?
Correction (Feb. 25): An earlier version of this story stated that the Kyle Valdes and Safal Mengi ticket have not been as vocal about not being physically on the ballot. However, Mengi and Valdes have been vocal on the issue on social media and through direct communication with the elections commission.