Changes to the Student Government election codes will not be made this Spring.
The 700 Codes Fairness and Transparency Act has been through a rough time in the Student Senate. The bill has been tabled, mistakenly left out of the agenda for a meeting and — finally — tabled indefinitely at Tuesday’s Senate meeting.
The bill, penned by Sen. Morgan Vollrath, strikes out all campaigning timeframes. Vollrath added stronger language to the bill to hold individuals and political parties more accountable for campaign violations.
Sen. Cory Yeffet objected to the bill and motioned to table it indefinitely, which was approved.
During public debate, Yeffet said because the changes wouldn’t go into effect until Fall, the Senate should have more time to completely reform the codes.
“We have plenty of time to look at this through a bipartisan effort,” he told the Senate.
Yeffet said the bill was not bipartisan. He thanked Senate President Christina Bonarrigo for forming the temporary committee on election reform.
Sen. Matt Pesek argued the election codes, specifically the time limits on campaigning, went against the U.S. Constitution.
“Unfortunately, the ugly failure of bipartisanship has reared its ugly head again,” he said. “There should be 100 percent approval for Sen. Vollrath’s bill.”
Bonarrigo said about 11 senators will be in the newly formed election reform committee.
It will meet Sunday.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
