Election code changes:
The Student Government Association proposed several changes to the rules during election season:
-“Presidential slate” now reads “executive slate”
-Candidates cannot be freshmen and must have completed three semesters to run
-The 2.7 GPA minimum to run on an executive slate changed to 2.8
-The elections board will release the names of all candidates 24 hours after the nomination convention, not during the convention
-Nominees will be held to the Student Code of Conduct
-Campaigns may be able to spend $2,000 on campaigning instead of $3,000
-Candidates, campaign managers and staff may not present electronic devices to any student in an effort to solicit a vote
-No posters in Pruis Hall
-No posters on exterior of campus buildings
-All fines will be made public by press secretary of elections board
The Student Government Association presented changes to the elections code that aim to combat some of the problems that occurred in last year’s election season.
The SGA Senate will hear the proposed changes at Wednesday’s meeting and must approve or deny them before the nomination convention Feb. 10.
If the elections code changes pass, it will affect many areas of the elections.
The tactic of using iPads to solicit votes from students might no longer be allowed, along with placing posters on the outside of campus buildings.
In past years, the nomination convention, where slates announce their intent to run, was a public event. A proposed change would make the convention private and require the elections board to release information to the public up to 24 hours afterward in order to verify qualifications.
The campaign season may be shortened from three weeks to two weeks, which could lower the amount of money a slate can spend on campaigning from $3,000 to $2,000.
In the past, a loophole allowed freshmen to run if they entered college with credits from high school, but it may be changed so executive slate candidates must have completed at least three semesters of college to run.
Students running for executive slate positions were not held responsible to the Student Code of Conduct in past years, but the proposal asks that they be accountable for upholding it during campaigning.
Jennifer Jones-Hall, SGA adviser, advocated for changes to the elections code and said the proposals look great.
“[Current SGA President Chloe Anagnos] and myself … looked at that document and made a lot of changes,” Jones-Hall said. “I hope they have an impact.”
The changes, however, do not set standard limits for elections fines, which became an issue in the last election when the slate Cardinal United was fined within $1 of being disqualified from the campaign for a charge that was later dropped.
Jones-Hall said she is an advocate for fine regulations, but does not think it will be a problem this year. She said she hopes to set up a meeting to discuss the elections with Alex Sventeckis, who was nominated and approved Wednesday to be the elections board chairman for 2014.
A former presidential nominee from the Fusion slate, Sventeckis will run the election — from upholding voting structure to running debates and taking student concerns.
Sventeckis said he hopes to make this a stronger, more productive election season by building on his experience running on a slate last year.
“We saw some issues I want to address, including cracking down on campaign strategies [and] making sure everyone follows elections code,” he said.
Specifically, he said he was glad to see electronic voting via iPads addressed and looks forward to upholding the honesty and integrity of elections code.
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