Candidates could be allowed to run for executive, senate positions at same time
Addressing student senate at its Wednesday evening meeting, Sen. Andrew Kovtun made an impassioned plea before amendments were introduced to change the new Student Government elections codes.
“We should not be a rubber-stamp senate. Have you ever heard a ‘no’ here?” Kovtun said. “There is something wrong here. We should have genuine debate about these amendments.”
The student senate has unanimously passed every bill before it this semester. According to Kovtun, that’s indicative of a “lethargic” status quo.
“We need to take a proactive measure,” Kovtun said. “I do urge the senate to consider … approaching this bill with a vision to the future.”
While 10 amendments to the elections codes were submitted for Wednesday’s meeting, only three necessitated discussion by the senate. The other seven were minor changes in wording and grammar. Two of the three requiring deliberation were introduced at the senate meeting.
The first, introduced by senate President Pro Tempore Lindsay Richardson, allows candidates for executive office to simultaneously run for student senate. If the candidate wins both races, he or she would take the executive seat and the senate candidate with the next highest number of votes would become a senator.
Multiple senators spoke in support of the amendment. Sen. Katie Wray said that the change should be well-publicized to students, while others said that the amendment would allow for senate leaders to have a safety net when running for higher office.
“It’s very beneficial, especially on the senate side,” Senate Student Services Committee Chair Jonathan Holt said. “There are really good leaders in senate who will run for office and, historically, they lose and fade away into the background.”
The amendment passed unanimously.
A second amendment, also introduced by Richardson, would put extra restrictions on senate and executive campaigns. It would delineate the campaign period into two sections: a two-week “soft period” and a one-week “hard period.” The soft period would prohibit candidates from holding rallies and events and distributing campaign items like cups and sunglasses. Candidates would be allowed to do these things in the hard period, which would be a week before the election.
Richardson said many students and student groups have told her that the three-week campaign season bombards them and that they’d like to see an alleviation.
Student Body President Chase Mizzell pointed out that SG’s elections codes are the most stringent among student governing bodies in the Southeastern Conference. If more limits are added to the elections codes, turnout for voters and candidates could be limited, he said.
But SG is also one of the only governing bodies in the SEC without a campaign spending cap, Richardson said. This amendment could serve as an alternative to a cap.
The amendment was carried over until the next senate session, when it is expected to be voted upon along with multiple other amendments that have yet to be introduced.