Last year, the WSU Election Board facilitated a record-breaking ASWSU campaign season. We are now two days away from the declaration of candidacy deadline and very little has been done to inform students.

It was no accident that last year’s campaigns received more attention than previous years — it reflected the effort and dedication of the Election Board staff. They carried out an aggressive marketing campaign to get the word out about the upcoming election, resulting in more initial presidential tickets than ever before, and more individual voters than any previous election.

“Election dates had to be changed as a result of the ice storm,” sitting Election Board Chair Kourtni Jefson wrote in an email. “We had to then push back the opening of candidacy forms, which gave us an even shorter window of time to begin advertising.”

While it’s reasonable that the process for approvals was delayed due to the weather, the Election Board should have addressed the delay and informed students instead of waiting until the last minute. Additionally, the ASWSU Senate and executives should exercise more oversight to ensure that there is transparency throughout the entire election process.

Holding our student government accountable is especially important considering many of the members will be running for re-election this year, and it benefits them to have less students know they are able to run for office.

Just a few days ago I was working in the CUB and a few prospective senators walked up and began talking to some nearby students. They were stunned to find out there even was an upcoming election.

Some elected ASWSU officials agree that a better job should be done to promote the election.

“The election board has not yet done a significant job of marketing the availability of elections or that one is happening,” College of Arts and Sciences Senator Kevin Schilling said in an email.

Students should reach out to their ASWSU representatives and encourage them to hold the Election Board responsible for dropping the ball this election.

Clear, effective communication between the student body government and the student body is a hallmark of our uniquely inclusive election process. It ensures people who are passionate about getting involved know they can and how to do it.

Intensive advertising, improved access to voting and polling stations, and additional days to vote gave students enough time to hear about the election, learn about the candidates and decide which candidate they would support in the 2016 elections. Hopefully, we will see similar efforts moving forward by the Election Board to continually improve the process.

Josh Maasberg is a sophomore political science major from Murrieta, California. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of The Office of Student Media.