Student Council's Rules and Ethics Board made its first and, if history serves as a guide, only decision of the year this week.
The board responded to an appeal from first-year College student Robin Short regarding the run-off election for second-year class president.
The Rules and Ethics Board oversees all elections appeals. The seven-member board is comprised of representatives of at least three different University schools and at least one graduate or professional school. This was the first time in recent years that the Rules and Ethics Board made any ruling during its term.
The second-year class president race initially required a run-off because Short tied with fellow first-year College student Bryan Shin when each received 348 votes. Confusion ensued when first-year College student Nathaniel Smith, who finished third in the general election, appealed to the elections committee.
Smith originally was not included in the run-off election because he had received 342 votes to Short's and Shin's 348 in the regular election.
The elections committee subsequently placed Smith on the run-off ballot after deciding to grant his appeal the night before voting began. Short and Shin were not notified that Smith had successfully appealed the decision.
Smith won the run-off election with 373 votes. Short received 242 votes, and Shin received 218.
Members of the board, first-year graduate Architecture student Andrew Burdick, fourth-year College student John Clark and fourth-year Commerce student Daniel Penn, joined with Patrick McGuinn, board chairman and Graduate Arts and Sciences student, to make their decision in the Short appeal.
"I appealed because I felt that the process was unclear, and due to the vagueness of the rules, I was unsure if anything had been violated," Short said.
She suggested a two-fold remedy. First, Short asked that Council reform the by-laws to clarify the elections and run-off procedures.
In the event that the board found a discrepancy, she also suggested the Board consider naming her as a co-president of the class. Short did not attempt to strip Smith of his title.
"We decided to reject her appeal to be named a co-president," McGuinn said.
After much deliberation, the board also decided that Council by-laws grant the elections committee a great deal of latitude, so no rules had been violated.
"It seemed to us that there was a wider issue here," McGuinn said.
McGuinn and the other board members agreed with Short that the run-off procedures need to be clearly specified.
"Currently, the elections committee can hold a run-off as they see fit," Council President Abby Fifer said.
Each year the elections committee rewrites the rules governing spring elections, which the representative body approves.
To change this annual procedure, the board drafted a resolution that Fifer will introduce at the March 26 Council meeting.
Council will be asked to amend the by-laws, so formal run-off election rules will be established and all candidates will understand the threshold of votes required for victory. Rules for communication also will be established so candidates are made aware of the election and run-off rules beforehand.
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