The Associated Students Organization will hold its election next month from April 21 to 23.
The ASO acts as Pierce’s student government and deals directly with issues such as the empty cafeteria, Pierce’s office hours, and resource accessibility.
Voter turnout has been low in the past, but ASO Committee Chair Vanna Ngo encouraged all students to vote in the election, and said this year’s elections will utilize technology to try to reach and involve more students in the election process.
“This year we are going to be using electronic ballots for voting,” Ngo said. “Each student will receive a ballot in their student email. If they submit it anytime time from April 21 to 23, their vote will count.”
ASO is using the electronic ballot approach to create a better voter turnout compared to recent years. According to Ngo, only 400 students voted in last year’s elections.
“We are really striving to advertise the importance of voting through flyers and word of mouth,” Ngo said. “This is first time we are going to be doing everything online, but we hope it has more of an impact on the results.”
Current ASO President Alex Oloo said student government is critical to the interests of Pierce students.
“We, the students, are what makes this school so special,” Oloo said. “Strengthening the student body starts with ASO elections.”
According to John Brown, former public relations officer for the committee chair, many students are unaware of the importance the ASO has for Pierce College.
Brown said it gives students a chance to voice their opinions, get involved with campus activity, and have a say in important matters that relate to student life.
“I definitely recommend people to get involved with ASO in some sort of way, because we really do have a big impact on what goes on at our school,” Brown said.
All ASO election voting will take place online, but the student trustee election, to vote in students into the Board of Trustees for all LACCD colleges, will be conducted with paper ballots. Voting tents will be set up in the Mall on the same dates as the online ASO elections.
