By Jenna Curry
Published May 9th 2007 in The Daily (University of Washington)
The 2007-08 Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) election will
take place today at 4:30 p.m. in the HUB. Student senators will be the
voters, electing winners by a simple majority.
The election will be conducted by instant runoff voting, giving voters the opportunity to choose a first and a second preference for each position.
This year�s race has two presidential candidates, one vice presidential candidate, five candidates for treasurer and one candidate for secretary.
Current GPSS officers said they are pleased with the number of candidates this year.
�We are confident that regardless of who wins, next year�s GPSS officers will continue to run an effective and productive GPSS Treasurer.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.