AMS All-Candidates meeting! And the nominees are:

The nominees for this years' AMS elections are:

President:

Matthew Naylor
Michael Duncan
“Che” Allison
Erin Rennie
Rodrigo Ferrari-Nunes

VP Academic:

Rob McLean
Alex Lougheed
Nathan Crompton
Fire Hydrant Peets

VP External:

Freeman Poritz
Stefanie Ratjen

VP Finance:

Stash “Irish Courage” Bylicki
Andrew Forshner
Tim Monachello - Dropped out
Chris Diplock

VP Administration:

"scary" Mike "the rabbi" Kushnir
Sarah Naiman
Jonathan Yiannis Messoloras

Senate:

Colin Simkus
Rob McLean
Blake Frederick
Aidha Shaikh
Eileen Harder
Philip Edgcumbe
Azim Wazeer
Alex Lougheed
Alfie Lee

Board of Governors:

Timothy Blair
Andrew Carne
Bijan Ahmadian
Genevieve “Malt Likkah” Sweigard
Cris Marincat
Rodrigo Ferrari-Nunes

read how it all went down, behind the jump

Yesterday at 5:00, fifty or so people gathered for the Elections All-Candidates' Meeting to find out just who they were running against in this year's AMS elections race. They were almost disappointed. Contested in this elections race are all five AMS executive positions, two positions on the Board of Governors, and five positions on the UBC Senate.

Elections Administrator Brendan Piovesan presided shakily over the meeting (if it could really be called that). While a typical meeting of this sort marks the firm end of nominations, and consists of a formal introduction of the candidates to each other, followed by a thorough brief on elections rules and procedures, such formalities are evidently not Piovesan's way. He essentially collected some candidates' nomination forms, then opened the floor up to questions, then called the meeting to a close. Restlessness and confusion in the room visibly increased until a few people voiced their concern that the candidate lists had not been read out, and declared their willingness to wait until they were announced. The miffed elections administrator seemed surprised at these declarations, but obligingly went on to list the candidates off very quickly, (and with notably careless pronunciation).

People to note in (or not in) the list:

• Colin Simkus, who withdrew his nomination from the VP finance race at the meeting, noting that commerce students had been concerned about a lack of selection for the finance position and asked him to run, but since "there was more selection than anticipated," he no longer felt the necessity to do so. He remains in the race for Senate.
• Sarah Naiman, the incumbant VP Admin, is also absent due to apparent technicalities, but likely to re-appear in the VP Admin race.
• Fire Hydrant Peets, making a triumphant return
• The five solitary women in this elections campaign, three of which fall into the "joke candidate" category.

Unlike last year, when inebriated CiTR DJ Maxwell Maxwell staggered into the room dressed as a pirate and decided to contest the presidential race on the spot, this year's meeting was less exciting, though considerably more irate. Everyone seemed to be dressed normally, though certain candidates, like "Che" Allison (who wants his fist platform point to be noted as "fuck democracy"), Genevieve “Malt Likkah” Sweigard, and Stash “Irish Courage” Bylicki may be a note or two removed from utter seriousness.

Despite the slightly weird start to the elections campaign, it looks like several races will be interesting. I'm very happy to note the presence of numerous new and unfamiliar names. As students get to know the candidates, and they get to know the AMS, I hope what they find will be mutually worthy. Good luck to all the candidates, and campaign hard!

(photos courtesy of Peter Rizov)