Last Thursday, the Committee on Student Elections (CSE) hosted the debate for candidates for the SGA Executive Board. The students running for the 2016-2017 Executive Board positions – President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary – had two hours to answer questions asked by a moderator.
The debate had its flaws. As many other have noted, the issue of diversity was not touched upon in the prepared questions. Perhaps less noticeably, however, was the problem of the debate’s moderator. Current SGA Executive President Jack Bartholet moderated the debate, which created an inherent conflict of interest. Bartholet is a member of the governing body he seeks to fill, and this past fall, he even nominated one of the candidates, president-elect Charlie Green, to be his vice president when the position was vacant. Someone from the CSE, an impartial body that serves to enforce the rules during election times, should have moderated the debate as they have in previous years, or else a different objective moderator should have been found.
The issue of moderation and choice of questions were just two issues with the election, but students have raised others in this year and years past: whether the voting dates should have been postponed, whether the campaign period should be longer, whether the rules for campaigning on social media are unrealistic. For anyone who has a strong opinion on the way SGA elections should be run, we recommend you apply for a position on the CSE. The organization serves an incredibly important function both for the SGA and for the campus as a whole by regulating and conducting elections. Any dissatisfaction with the election procedure and processes should be channeled into a desire to be a part of the solution. It’s one thing to simply identify a problem; it’s another to do something about it.
Applications for the CSE open in the fall. There are no specific qualifications other than not currently serving on SGA, and the term lasts for one year. We strongly encourage students to seriously consider joining the committee and reforming the process.
