Senators criticize Woodard’s JEC nominees

Several Student Association senators questioned the experience of President Omar Woodard’s three nominees for the 2005 Joint Elections Committee at Tuesday night’s Senate meeting.

Woodard nominated sophomores Kathryn Lux and Alexandra Valenti and graduate student Chris Jenkins to sit on the body, which will oversee the election of a new SA president in March.

The three students will be interviewed in confirmation hearings next week.

The JEC charter was supposed to be rewritten in time for the March election.

However, the committee that Woodard appointed did not complete the task in time. The SA will use the 2004 charter for the upcoming election.

“I hope that all the candidates are fully qualified, but I am not going to just approve candidates acting upon President Woodard’s knee-jerk, late nomination process,” Morgan Corr (CCAS-U) said.

Woodard’s vice president for public affairs, Carrie Warrick, said the nominees were chosen from a pool of eight applicants and are qualified for their positions.

“Just because these candidates don’t have experience in SA elections doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified,” Warrick said.

Jason Karasik (Graduate At-Large) said he was worried because the lack of a new charter could open the door for problems similar to those that occurred during last year’s elections, when rumors of electoral fraud and lost ballot boxes plagued voting.

“I have remained worried from day one that everyday that this current law is in effect and is not adequately dealt with is a day that is bad for the students,” Karasik said.

Karasik said he hopes that by next year, the SA will have a permanent charter creating an election oversight body to prevent the issue from coming up again.

He said, “The fix that I have advocated for is going to come but it cannot come with the snap of a finger.”

-Brandon Butler