IUSA fate in student hands as voting continues

As the bear rode his bicycle swiftly down Seventh Street, his shirt proclaimed support for the iUnity ticket.

Meanwhile, the leprechaun outside Ballantine Hall encouraged students to vote for Kirkwood.

What might have resembled something from a movie set was actually the first day of IU Student Association elections. Voting began at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and will continue until 10 p.m. today.

Both tickets staffed polling locations with volunteers and equipped them with multiple laptops. Students who walked to class were encouraged to cast their votes on-site after a volunteer described the ticket’s platform and, occasionally, asked why the student was voting.

“This is for student government, right?” sophomore Rachel Hanley asked.

Hanley stood next to iUnity’s polling location beside the Woodburn clock tower. She said she had done some reading about the elections and the two tickets but had not yet been approached to vote. Hanley said she would probably vote “from the comfort of her own home.” 

Freshman Caroline DeCarlo said she was annoyed by the campaigning. Decarlo said she voted for the ticket that handed her the most flyers. 

“I don’t even know who I was voting for,” DeCarlo said. 

Barrett Tenbarge, freshman and campaign manager for the iUnity ticket, said a lack of student understanding was something his ticket could “use as an opportunity to educate about student government and our ticket.” 

Both Kirkwood and iUnity set up polling stations outside Ballantine Hall, where slow WiFi speeds caused problems. Despite technical difficulties, both booths said they had a fair amount of voter turnout.
 
Freshman Dan Crichlow, who wore the leprechaun suit while encouraging students to vote for Kirkwood, said his costume helped show both the serious and entertaining sides of Kirkwood.

“People are more attracted to surprising and entertaining things such as leprechauns,” Crichlow said. 

Freshman Ryan Janas, who also volunteered at Kirkwood’s polling station outside Ballantine Hall, said the costume helped bring people in.

iUnity ticket members also said their choice of costume, in the form of a bear, helped attract voters to their table. 

“People feel more comfortable about it when the bear is around, I feel,” senior Ilya Rekhter said.

Rekhter is one of the chiefs of transportation in the current Btown Administration.

Rekhter said he supported iUnity because of his work with several candidates in the Btown administration and his belief in their ability to capitalize on relationships they had already built. However, he said it was also important to make sure students voted, even if that vote was not cast in favor of iUnity. 

“I’m excited to get more people to vote,” Rekhter said.

Volunteers said they chose to help because they supported their ticket’s platform or knew someone participating in the campaign.

Sophomore Connor Caudill volunteered in support of Kirkwood. 

Caudill is the current secretary and parliamentarian of congress and is running for reelection. He said he is also a friend of Kirkwood presidential candidate Justin Kingsolver.

“I feel like they bring a different dynamic to IUSA that hasn’t been seen before,” Caudill said.