The Election Commission voted at roughly 8:30 this evening to suspend the election rules in order to change the signature requirement for presidential tickets petitioning to get on the ballot. Presidential candidates will still need 150 total signatures to get on the ballot, but the number of signatures required from interdisciplinary/deciding/general studies majors has been reduced from 25 to 10. Election Commissioner Jill Hohnecker reports that candidates may acquire the remaining 15 signatures from students in any college.
As of press time, no changes have been made to the signature requirements for interdisciplinary/deciding/general studies students seeking to run for senate, as Hohnecker is unaware of any such campaigns at this time. Any student who wishes to run for those spots may contact Hohnecker at hohneckj@uni.edu.
The change comes in light of reported difficulties from all three presidential tickets to find the required 25 signatures, partially due to the fact that there is no real "home" for those students on campus.
While I personally think it's a bad idea to change the rules mid-election, I want names on the ballot. It would be a shame if every ticket turned into write-in campaigns just because the Commission was unwilling to bend when untested rules go awry. I commend the Commission for making this tough decision to ensure this election stays interesting and that the process serves students.
i dont think the commission understands what suspend the rules means
ReplyDeleteNot many people who claim to, or should, know Roberts Rules of Order actually know/use them correctly. That being said, at least they made the right call and I'm glad this issue was fixed.
DeleteIf I understand correctly, it is too late to change the election rules for this campaign season, so the Commission instead suspended the rules and is operating under standing rules which are identical with the election rules except for the signature requirements specified above.
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