Polls open in primary election until 8 p.m. tomorrow

The 23 ASUA student government candidates will face off for the first time in the primary election today and tomorrow.

Because fewer than the minimum number of candidates allowed in a general election applied to run, no candidates will be eliminated in the primary.

Rather, the primary will give the six executive candidates and 17 senatorial candidates a sense of where they stand heading into next week's general election, which will determine next year's officers.

Associated Students of the University of Arizona presidential candidates Aaron Black and Sen. Doug Hartz will get an early glimpse of who could be ASUA president and who will have to intensify his campaigning prior to the general elections.

"The main reason we are even having a primary is because we want to give the candidates an opportunity to see how they are doing so that they can get out and campaign harder," said ASUA president Ray Quintero.

Students can vote online between 8 a.m. today and 8 p.m. tomorrow through a link on the ASUA Web site at http://www.asua.arizona.edu or at the online voting station located between the student union Memorial Center and the Second Street Parking Garage.

With the convenience of online voting, the only real way to increase voter turnout is through marketing, said Joe Rogers, ASUA elections commissioner.

The polls will be open constantly for 36 hours, allowing an extended voting period for students who cannot vote during the day.

The 2001 primary elections brought 2,398 voters, a 57 percent increase from the 2000 primary. Rogers hopes to break 2,400 for a new primary voter turnout record.

"We will be hindered by the fact that no one will be eliminated," Rogers said.

The primary and general elections are two separate processes, so students must vote twice, once in the primary and once in the general election March 6-7.

The general election ballot will also include a referendum on whether to pass a $3 fee for the Student Recreation Center.

"It's pretty apparent they need to vote so the students will have who they want to represent them," Quintero said.

Results of the primary elections will be announced at the ASUA entrance outside the Student Union tomorrow at 9 p.m.