The time to vote for Student Body President is just around the corner at NDSU, and up until now only two candidates and their respective vice presidents have been in competition for the position. The one-on-one rivalry was shaken up earlier this week when a surprise third candidate announced that he would be on the ballot next week, beginning his campaign far behind the others but confident that he can get the votes to turn the election in his favor.

“My son is a very precocious young man,” said Amanda Smith, the mother and campaign manager of new candidate Baxtyn Smith. “He is already doing great things in his classes, and I think he has a lot to offer NDSU as Student Body President.”

When Smith says precocious, she means it—Baxtyn is only two years old and already entertaining political ambitions. The classes she referred to include BABY104 (Let’s Learn About Colors and Shapes) and BABY206 (Topics in Sharing: Is Biting Ever Appropriate?), which he takes at the Center for Child Development and is receiving straight A’s in.  

Baxtyn is running with Juleighahna Johnson as his vice president. Julieghahna is two and a half and feels like having spent a longer time at NDSU has equipped her to support Baxtyn in knowing the minds of his constituents and being a good representative of their voices, according to a statement on their campaign website. She was motivated to run for Student Government after taking BABY460 (How to Get What You Want by Saying Please) and discovering how mutual communication can bring people together to achieve their goals.

Smith and Johnson’s campaign is based on three promises:

1. Mandated nap time will be built into every student’s schedule. “I think we can all agree that it’s just impossible to stay awake for longer than two hours, and it’s cruel for NDSU to expect otherwise,” Smith stated on his campaign site. Surprisingly, this measure is polling extremely well with voters. “I personally don’t know if it’s possible to stay awake for longer than two hours,” said one student. “Why do you think I’m bringing this blanket to class?”
2. More parallel play events will be created on campus. “It’s not fun when other people take your toys even though you aren’t done with them,” continued Smith’s statement. “It’s okay to admit that we aren’t ready for such complex social interactions and that we want to play with our friends at a safe distance.” Voters have responded positively to this measure as well. “Is it weird that I totally agree with him?” said one student.
3. Email communication will be completely eradicated. “Not only is it discriminatory against those who can’t read, but we aren’t sure how to use it,” said Smith. “Also we felt like the other campaigns were mostly about this and we don’t like to feel left out.” Smith’s alternate proposal is that news be spread by someone who gets on students’ level and speaks slowly and clearly about what is happening on campus. Voters polled by the Spectrum were extremely unsure of this measure, and most indicated that they would not be comfortable with it being put into action.

When asked about whether there had been any qualms about the unorthodox ages of the Smith/Johnson campaign, NDSU election manager Sheryl Hill stated that the election board had no problem approving the candidacy. “They are NDSU students since they attend the Center for Child Development, so we recognize their campaign as legitimate,” she said. When shown security footage of Amanda Smith entering the last election board meeting with a large bag of cash, she declined to comment further.