The Student Association Senate postponed a vote on the Joint Elections Charter Act until the next Senate meeting after heated debate Tuesday night in the Marvin Center.
The JEC charter outlines the rules for the SA’s election, which will occur sometime in March or April.
One of the major sources of contention was an amendment proposed by SA Senator Chris Rotella (CCAS-U), a junior, that would prohibit those candidates running under a slate to share financial expenses with other members of their slate. The amendment was voted down by the Senate.
“I think that the section (addressing the finances of slates) is inherently unfair and biased,” said Rotella, who ran on the Real GW slate last year. “This puts slates well above any individual candidate.”
During last year’s election, an overwhelming majority of undergraduate candidates for Senate were part of a slate. Senator Nathan Brill (SoB-U), who also ran on the Real GW slate last year, said that Rotella’s proposed amendment was unfair.
“Double-charging students who run in a group is inherently unfair to those wishing to run on a slate,” Brill said. “Running with a group of like-minded students should be an option which candidates should have the choice to do without enduring penalties for making such a decision.”
Rotella said he hopes the charter will be passed at the body’s next meeting; however, some senators, including Brandon Sherr (CCAS-G), a graduate student, are concerned about the constitutionality of specific aspects within the charter.
The Senate also discussed two vacant seats on the SA Court, the judicial branch of the SA. The court handles constitutional disputes within the SA and between student organizations. It only has three of its five seats occupied.
Last week, five applicants to fill the two vacant seats on the SA Student Court were approved by a Student Court Search Committee and were submitted to SA President Lamar Thorpe, a senior, for his consideration.
Some of those being considered are law students Ryan Mick and Michael Gore, sophomore Laura Bentele, and juniors John Curran and Dave Rosenbaum.
According to the SA constitution, one of the two vacant seats must be given to a graduate student.
Sophomore Chris Wimbush, Thorpe’s VP of judicial and legislative affairs, said that he expects Thorpe to decide on his two nominees for the court by the end of the week. These nominees will then be submitted to the Senate for consideration at the next SA meeting.
The Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, Nov. 7 for its next meeting.
