Student Government plans to release an informational packet about Louisiana’s 2007 Constitutional Officer Elections today. The guide, a joint effort between the SG executive and legislative branches, follows a campus voter registration drive led by executive branch members. Adam Parker, SG assistant director of external affairs, said the multi-page guide will be candidate based, listing the contenders in statewide elections and detailing their positions. “The overall goal is to be very informative, as in-depth as possible without boring you to death,” Parker said. The elections, to take place Saturday will determine the state’s next governor. Other statewide positions for re-election include lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, state commissioner of agriculture and forestry and state insurance commissioner. Numerous localized elections, such as those for the Louisiana House of Representatives and the Louisiana Senate, will not be covered by the guide. Parker said information for the guide will come from a set of questions fielded by SG to each of the candidates. He said the questions focus on the candidates’ major policy issues and include questions directly related to higher education and University students. Parker said the guide will also feature “fun” questions to engage politically apathetic students. Drew Prestridge, College of Arts and Sciences senator and chairman of the Student Senate Governmental Relations committee who worked with Parker on the guide, said SG members thought the “fun” questions might also provide students a way to identify with the candidates. Parker said candidates who do not respond to the questions will still have their positions presented in the guide. He said SG members will draw on public accounts like candidacy announcements and debate transcripts to fill in these gaps. In addition to descriptions of the various candidates, the guide will also include information about where, when and how students can vote in the upcoming elections. “People say they’re not informed enough,” Prestridge said. “We have to try to bring it to them.”
—-Contact Daniel McBride at [email protected]