In planning for the ASGCC election to be held Dec. 4 and 5, the Administration Committee has revised the election code in an effort to update parts that may be outdated or unacceptable.
A number of revisions have already been amended. Among them, the committee has decided that all candidates will now have to attend mandatory candidate meetings with an ASGCC adviser rather than the Dean of Student Affairs, which was prescribed by the old election code.
Concerning candidate publicity and campaign activities, the committee has decided to keep the limit of separate, free-standing posters at six per candidate. While stickers are still prohibited in campaigning, the committee has decided to remove one controversial item from the old election code. That item allowed only candidates to wear publicity T-shirts; supporters could not wear T-shirts for candidates.
The new election code also makes it clear that those involved in the Elections Committee are restricted from campaigning for any candidates.
All petition packets will now be turned into the administrative assistant of the Dean of Student Affairs or the Student Activities Coordinator. The new election code clarifies that any candidate wishing to withdraw their candidacy from the election, is required to give written notice to the dean of student affairs prior to the commencement of the elections.
The Administration Committee has also decided that while the old election code called for candidates to be listed in alphabetical order, the new code groups candidates by positions then lists them in alphabetical order.
Administration committee members have also taken out parts of the election code that are outdated, such as homecoming restrictions. Since there is no homecoming festival, all references to homecoming have been removed in the new code.
Administration committee members have also added a new section to the election code directly concerning the ASGCC Elections Committee. The new section state that “the Elections Committee will consist of an election commissioner, ASGCC faculty/staff adviser, and a student-at-large.”
According to the new code, the election commissioner will be the ASGCC vice president unless that person is already running for an office. If so, the ASGCC vice president of administration will decide who the election commissioner will be and that decision will be approved by the legislature. The student-at-large will be appointed by the ASGCC president and approved by the legislature as well.
“Every year the administration committee goes over the constitution, by-laws, and the election codes,” said Hasmik Geghamyan, senator of administration. “They amend things that shouldn’t be there. As time passes there are things that need to be changed, for example homecoming. We took that out of the election code.”
The administration committee has also decided that any disqualified candidates will be ineligible to run for office for up to two full semesters rather than just one. The elections committee will determine that period of ineligibility. Any candidate who feels he or she has received an unfair judgment may appeal the decision.