A-3 elections take place without a hitch

In contrast to last year's controversial A-3 Assembly elections, yesterday's elections -- which voted in seven members to the body's Executive Board -- went smoothly, according to members of the committee overseeing the process. Thirty members of the A-3 Assembly, which represents thousands of hourly-wage and support staff workers across the University, cast ballots. The seven elected candidates ran unopposed, with a total of 20 positions available. "With more available positions than candidates, this was not a highly contested election," said Law Professor Howard Lesnick, a member of the monitoring committee. "But this wasn't a bad turnout for this kind of organization." Although eight more voters cast ballots than in last year's election, John Hogan, a bibliographic specialist for Biddle Law Library, noted that the turnout was unimpressive for an organization with more than 2,200 members. Some A-3 workers interpreted the low turnout as demonstrating a lack of confidence about the Assembly's effectiveness. "The turnout suggests that members aren't getting what they want from the Assembly," said Hogan, who was elected to the board yesterday. "There's a lot of work to be done to get A-3 members informed, involved and hopeful about the process." Other members suggested that insufficient publicity might have factored into the turnout. "I didn't even know elections were being held," said A-3 staffer Diane Davis, an administrative assistant for PennCap. "The participation and support for the Assembly really just isn't there." College of General Studies administrative assistant Denise Miller blamed the low number of those who cast ballots on the intermittent downpours throughout the day. The University Steering Committee requested that an external committee oversee the A-3 election process this year, after a nearly year-long conflict over last year's elections which involved questions of unfair procedures and election fraud. In addition to complaints that the ballot did not include the names of several nominees, the previous board never released last year's election results. Lesnick explained that new elections became necessary once the previous board's two-year terms expired. But yesterday's voting went without incident and Lesnick released the results immediately after the polls closed. The seven newly elected members are Martin, Hogan, Donna Arthur, Stephanie Knox, Denise Miller, Loretta Miller and Debra Smiley-Koita. The board members will soon appoint a representative to University Council. They must determine if Hogan is eligible as a full voting member, since he is a member of a union-represented bargaining unit. Employees covered by collective bargaining arrangements are not supposed to vote in the A-3 Assembly. Newly elected members are already planning for the coming term. Martin said he wants to increase members' awareness of issues. "If people feel that they're being represented, and they feel there's a voice for them out there, then they will know the University is listening to them," he said. The A-3 Assembly holds a seat on University Council and also participates in several of the committees involved in restructuring the University.