GW Joint Elections Committee

Below is an excerpt from the list of recommendations formally submitted to the Student Association on behalf of the Joint Elections Committee.  For more information, please see the full text of the letter.

Chairman Polk:

The Joint Elections Committee formally refers to the Student Association the attached recommendations for your consideration.

In brief, it is our opinion that those aspects of the charter which place restrictions on the Committee should undergo a stringent review as to encourage Committee activity, rather than hinder it as it does in many cases.  In some senses it feels as if the charter has become a rubber band ball of regulations, bounding haplessly down the stairs of reason on its own accord.  More broadly, election regulations should be streamlined, keeping only those aspects of the charter that clearly and directly ensure a friendly, fair election, and removing those aspects that are unnecessarily restrictive.  In addition to overburdening the Committee, we found that such rules made the process unnecessarily cumbersome and as a result, bread ignorance among all parties involved.

Given the finite time available to the Committee, the charter often begs the choice between doing what is in the best interest of student life on campus and meeting the oftentimes near draconian burdens of paperwork placed on the Committee by the charter.  Time and time again it became clear that at the end of the day one must realize that this is a student government election, and not an election for public office.  As a result, more discretion on the part of the Committee in its application of the rules, as well as more freedom in exercising the Committee’s duties is necessary to allow the election to adapt to an ever changing campus environment.  Without a doubt, there were several times throughout the election that we were forced to chose between doing the right thing, and doing what was required of us by our governing documents.

More broadly, there seems to be a sense of hypocrisy between our governing documents and the chartered organizations that churn them out.  The ever present threat that any decision we make could be overturned at whim - should we fail to properly notify the necessary bodies within the appropriate timeframe, include the necessary agenda items, hold the meeting in the proper fashion, or hastily organize our records throughout the process - bears less weight coming from a senate that has not published meeting agendas, legislation, or minutes since October.  If my introduction to student government on campus has taught me one thing, it is this:  as a Student Association outsider, it can often be frustrating to know that we go to such great lengths to ensure that everything is done to ensure that the student voice is heard, while at the same time, those whom we help to elect do not necessarily embody that same spirit.

Throughout the year as you are charged with the task of policing the senate’s activity, and as you set forth next year’s campaign rules, I ask you to keep such sentiments in mind.

Respectfully Submitted,

- Benjamin J. Balter

Chairman, Joint Elections Committee 

 

cc: Vishal Aswani, Student Association President Elect; 

Kyle Boyer, Student Association Executive Vice President Elect; 

Fred Girard, Student Association VPJLA Elect 

The Student Association Senate recently recognized the 2007-2008 Joint Elections Committee as “one of the most successful JECs in recent memory.”  In addition to acknowledging it many accomplishments, it commended the Committee members’ dedication and hard work throughout all three elections overseen. The body of the bill is included below or the full text is also available.

• WHEREAS The 2007-2008 Joint Elections Committee (JEC) was one of the most successful JECs in recent memory; and
• WHEREAS The JEC ran not only the Student Association general election and a Presidential run-off election but also a special election on the student fee increase; and
• WHEREAS The JEC took great lengths to advertise all three elections which combined with online balloting led to a significant increase in voter turnout for the referendum election on the student fee, the general election and the run-off election
• WHEREAS The JEC was not sued by any of the candidates nor by any member of The George Washington University student body which exemplifies how effective and transparent they were; and
• WHEREAS The Student Association Senate confirmed three of the members of the JEC including its chairperson, Benjamin Balter, it is fitting that the Senate recognize their hard work:
• THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of The George Washington University Student Association commends the dedication and hard work of the members of the 2007-2008 JEC; and
• BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this legislation, upon approval, will be transmitted to Tim Miller (Executive Director, Student Activities Center, Dr. Robert Chernak (Senior Vice-President, The George Washington University), Dr. Steven Knapp (University President, The George Washington University) The GW Hatchet, The Daily Colonial, and WRGW.

 

Sadly the time has come to certify results, clean out the office, and move on with our lives. We’re being evicted from our home in faithful MC411 Tuesday morning so the final JEC meeting will be at 9:30 PM this Monday evening (agenda / DRAFT Certified Results).

The committee will also be compiling a list of formal recomendations to pass on to the senate elect regarding next year’s electon procedures. Public comment is welcome.

Its been a rollercoaster of an election. Thanks for making it real.

The election may be over, but the committee is still at work, meeting this Monday, at 5:15 in MC 411.  See the agenda for details.

The Committee will meet at 9:30 PM on March 24th.  A copy of the agenda is available for public review.