Associated Students of Madison fall elections began Monday, with ASM members encouraging freshmen to take the initiative to have an influence on their student government.
However, several students who were deemed ineligible for the race because of sophomore standing as first-year students filed injunctions against ASM.
UW-Madison freshman Austin Evans enrolled with 26 advanced placement credits, which put him at sophomore status according to UW-Madison standards.
According to Nick Cantor, ASM student election commission chair, this made Evans ineligible to run as a freshman candidate, because by-laws require freshmen nominees to have less than 24 credits.
Cantor said he first questioned certain candidates' eligibility after a routine computer check. The check, on such things as class standing and grades, did not classify Evans as a freshman.
'I made [Evans] aware that there was a strong likelihood that he would not be able to run,' said Cantor.
Three days before voting, Evans received a phone call from Cantor saying that his campaign was in jeopardy. The following day, Evans, along with several other candidates, received an e-mail saying they were ineligible.
'I filed a complaint to the ASM student judiciary board and requested an injunction,' Evans said.
Trent Krupp, another freshman at UW-Madison, enrolled with 31 AP credits, also filed an injunction with the ASM student judiciary board.
Adam Goldstein, vice chair of the judiciary board, said he denied the request.
'I'm upset because I thought it was for first-year students and I don't think the student election board handled it well,' Evans said. 'I put a lot of time, effort and money into my campaign and now I feel used.'
Despite these difficulties, ASM said it is predicting a 'fairly good turnout.'
Eligible voters include all freshmen in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and graduate students in the College of Letters and Sciences.
One of ASM's main goals is to 'get freshman involved and help them realize the power of ASM right away,' ASM Chair Jessica Miller said.
Voting began Monday at 10 a.m. and will continue until Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Students can vote online or through paper ballots available at Memorial Union, Cantor said.
