Associated Student Government passed legislation Wednesday changing the election process for academic vice president and student life vice president from a campus-wide vote to internal selection, meaning ASG president and executive vice president are now the only student-elected positions.
In the past, the academic vice president and student life vice president have been voted on by the student body in the Spring Quarter elections. At Senate, members said these positions were often overshadowed by the presidential vote. The change was proposed due to a lack of student interest in these positions and to guarantee the candidates have enough knowledge and experience to successfully serve the student body.
“It doesn’t make sense for them to be elected,” said Alex Van Atta, ASG executive vice president. “Just something to consider is the kind of complications that can occur when you have somebody elected on one platform on student life but the president, executive vice president were elected on a completely different platform. ”
The initial legislation was amended to change the makeup of the election commission, which would choose the academic vice president and the student life vice president, who would then need to be approved by the Senate. Now the election commission will also include two students elected by the Senate in order to make the process more democratic.
In the most recent elections, students were required to vote for the two secondary positions in order to submit their ballots, President Ani Ajith said.
Officials said students likely voted for the positions based on arbitrary reasons.
“There are people that make very shallow decisions when it comes to voting,” said David Harris, ASG chief of staff. “A lot of people vote based on their network of friends. A lot of people vote based on one sound bite that they heard or something that they read, so what’s not happening is the conversation that is as applicable as the one that we can have within a smaller setting.”
After intense debate, senators voted, filling the two-thirds required majority to pass the amendment.
Senate also discussed and passed other constitutional amendments, changing the criteria necessary to hold a constitutional forum. In an amendment proposed by Harris, the holding of a constitutional forum now can be bypassed with the votes of three quarters of all senators. Previously, the forums were mandated whenever a constitutional change was proposed.
ASG members also lent their support to a variety of financially-based legislation, including bankruptcy protection for students, and voted in favor of an end to further sequester cuts on higher education.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the conditions required to bypass a constitutional forum. The Daily regrets the error.
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