The Student Senate suspended the official duties of their Election Commission, the body responsible for planning and putting on the spring elections, in favor of ensuring the elections are held before spring break. The elections are planned for sometime between March 15 and 19.
Duties of the commission have typically consisted of promotion (posting fliers and general advertising), planning (picking a date, time and recruiting volunteers) and implementation (manning the tables and counting the votes). This year the commission won’t be responsible for the promotion which, when unsuccessful, can make or break an election. Voter turnout is especially important this year because the Senate is including a referenda that attempts to change the structure of the Student Activity Fee.
The issue most heavily debated was whether maintaining the duties of the Elections Commission would cause elections to be held back until after spring break. This issue dominated the last hour and a half of a three hour meeting held last Friday morning in the Costello Sports Complex while a lone figure skater twirled gracefully around on the freshly zambonied ice in viewing site below.
Parliamentarian Ezekiel Kimball was concerned that holding elections back would cause setbacks for the incoming senate because their training and acclimation to their new positions would be hindered by time constraints. They are given five weeks (three for training and two for serving) before the semester ends and pushing elections back would have cut into that allocated time.
Others felt it was too much to ask of the commission to require them to plan the elections in the coming weeks, preferring the elections be held after spring break.
For the last three years the commission has violated its own policy with permission of the Senate and held elections after spring break. More than one senator spoke out against the Elections Commission’s policy.
“The statement of policy for the Elections Commission is horrible. It’s absolutely the worst one we have…and there are a lot of bad ones,” said Parliamentarian Ezekiel Kimball.
The Election Commission, created in 1994, is supposed to consist of “impartial” members of the student community. In the past it has required student leaders like the Portland Events Board Chair and the Editor of The Free Press to participate. This has been problematic because serving on the commission was never specified in any job descriptions. The Senate has experienced difficulty both this year and in past years coordinating and finding time for the seven person board to meet.
In the past the senate has required students interested in running for the senate to gather 20 signatures, which translate as nominations to be put on the ballot. They are not requiring that this year.
The Elections Commission’s responsibilities also included promoting student awareness to get out the vote, which hasn’t always been effective
“How do you campaign? We don’t campaign right now,” said Senate Adviser Chris O’Connor, “There are people around this table who’ve been elected by five write-in votes.”
Campaigning has been redistributed from the Elections Commission to the Public Relations Committee and $1500 from the Student Activity Fee has been allocated for advertising.
This year’s Election Commission will participate by drafting the ballot, counting the votes and staffing the voting tables with non-senators.
“They’ll ensure the elections are run in an impartial manner,” said Kimball.
The Senate plans to evaluate other Student Senate election policies using that “as groundwork” for their own redraft said Chair Jeremy Collette.
Christy McKinnon can be contacted at [email protected]