UPDATE:
The ASUP Director of Finance election ended inconclusively yesterday, Feb. 11. Cole Stoker and Nikita Tewari received 34.34% and 28.29% of the vote respectively. A candidate must receive 51% of all votes cast to be declared the winner. A runoff election will take place next week between these two candidates.
The Associated Students of the University of Portland (ASUP) are holding elections this week to fill the vacancy left by former Director of Finance Joey Paumier. Paumier resigned in November of the fall 2020 semester. Voting began Tuesday at 4 a.m. on Engage, and ends Thursday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m.
“I see this election as a very exciting opportunity to put more information out there about how the ASUP budget system works,” ASUP President Sage Taylor said. “And [I’m] really stressing that one of the roles of Director of Finance is to work their hardest to make sure that money can be used equitably by students and that students can have access to it.”
Taylor has been acting as the interim Director of Finance since Paumier’s resignation. The budgeting processes for ASUP have been headed by Taylor, ASUP Advisor Lyndsy Manz, and ASUP Controller Cole Stoker.
To be declared the winner of the election, one of the candidates must receive a majority of the votes, which is 51% of all votes cast. Otherwise, there will be a runoff election the following week. 10% of the student body must vote for the election to be valid.
“Every single student pays the student activities fee,” ASUP Vice President Tate Harris said, “and that money goes toward this substantial six figure budget that our Director of Finance manages. So, every student should vote because they have a vested interest in where that money they paid is going.”
A majority of the candidates’ campaigns are being done via social media.
The Candidates are listed below:
Max Cunningham, Junior
Cole Stoker, Junior
Matt Green, Sophomore
Cooper Moore, Senior
Nikita Tewari, Sophomore
Tessa Rodgers, Senior
Jake Barber, Junior
Will Mulligan is a reporter for the Beacon. He can be reached at mulligan22@up.edu.
