Typically, Student Government Association elections run smoothly and without much contention - sometimes, they even run without competition.
Many involved in SGA are citing the ease of past elections as a reason nobody on Student Senate challenged the proposed Elections Board when it was presented to the senate Jan. 11. However, because the Elections Board was chosen by a single person, who selected the board members based on past experience working with them rather than other criteria, the board ended up being populated by a group with many similar interests and organizational affiliations. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but when one of the potential presidential slates shares the board's social and organizational circle, a huge conflict of interest comes into view. Considering the Elections Board manages all the decisions regarding debates, finances and voting for the election, any sign of favor toward one slate or discrimination against another would be traced back to that conflict of interest.
Unfortunately, nobody on Student Senate asked in-depth questions of the proposed Elections Board, and the few degrees of separation the current board members have from potential slate members was not discovered until this week.
It's a glitch in the system - fixable, but indicative of a larger problem.
Had Student Senate found this problem any later - given that a week from now will be the midst of the campaign process - the possibility of selecting a new Elections Board would've been out of question. Student Senate is lucky the issue was discovered now, so that it can be rectified, but the system for choosing Elections Board members must be more thorough in the future to avoid such binding circumstances.
And that's exactly what SGA is in right now: a major bind.
Because of this oversight, special meetings are being held and a new Elections Board is scheduled to be chosen as quickly as Monday. SGA President Steve Geraci has promised elections will not be postponed. However, if Student Senate has any shadow of a doubt, if there's any chance another glitch could come up, if the senators question the Elections Board candidates for any reason, the election should be postponed.
This election process is too important to the university to rush decisions regarding who runs it. Waiting another two weeks would not greatly detriment the election process, and it would give SGA the opportunity to not only figure out what exactly happened here and how to fix it, but also to select a qualified Elections Board the senators can have full confidence in.
Just as with the provost search that was wiped clean and restarted during Fall Semester, sometimes it's better to cut the losses and do it right the second time around - rather than try to salvage a failing mission.
SGA, like any organization, cannot afford this kind of backward motion.
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