The Student Senate voted Tuesday to table a bill regarding election code reform for next week’s meeting.
However, after the meeting, Senate President Christina Bonarrigo said she will create a temporary committee to look at the issues raised in the bill.
She suggested creating the committee during the meeting, which would be lead by Sen. Cory Yeffet and Sen. Morgan Vollrath.
But Vollrath refused.
“They never came forward with my specific problems,” Vollrath said after the meeting.
The bill, which Vollrath authored, proposed to remove restrictions about campaigning in the election codes.
The way the codes read now restrict campaigning to a week and have vague language, Vollrath said.
After the meeting, he said the changes focused on the wording to become more strict regarding individual actions related to a candidate or party during campaigning.
Sen. Matt Pesek, one of the bill’s sponsors, said the bill stands for freedom of speech.
“This bill will clear up those problems and be a victory for free speech on campus,” he said.
The changes would not be in effect for the upcoming Spring elections, but rather the Fall 2013 elections.
Bonarrigo said she was in favor of the bill and wanted the codes reform at once, not split up between sessions.
“Let’s get them one and done,” Bonarrigo said.
After the meeting, she said she will reach out to the Senate for another co-chairperson, as she wants the committee to include both the Students Party and Swamp Party members. Vollrath is a Students Party senator, and Yeffet is a Swamp Party senator.
During the meeting, the Senate unanimously passed bills that require the Senate to be notified 48 hours before any appointments for executive cabinet officer, supervisor of elections, assistant supervisor of elections and any election commission.
The body also unanimously passed a referendum to be on the Spring elections ballot Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.
The non-binding referendum will gauge student opinion on Gainesville bars to close at 3 a.m. but stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
Student Sen. Morgan Vollrath expresses his discontent Tuesday at the Reitz Union after the Senate voted to table his election codes reform bill until next week.
