2008 Woodie Awards
SGA makes plans to restructure bylaws
Jason Morrow
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: News
The Student Government Association has been taking a hard look at election rules and procedures to possibly implement substantial changes before student elections in April.
Wes Hunt, junior from Crayne, Ky., was appointed to become the chair of the Election Ways and Means Committee. Hunt said the goal for the committee is to make comprehensive and critical analysis of the election rules and change the by-laws as needed.
In last year's elections there were several accusations of election violations brought against SGA President Eric King, to the student government judicial board. King was found guilty by the judicial board of a class two offense, which was punishable by disqualification. The problem, Hunt said, was there was no appeals process for King to make a case for himself. The appeal was finally taken before University president Randy Dunn who overturned the judicial board's ruling over the summer.
"The events of last year looked bad for the University and made SGA not look credible in handling its own matters," Hunt said. "The purpose this year is to keep SGA matters within SGA."
The committee has worked rigorously to have a draft of the new bylaws ready before Spring Break.
"It's been a pretty intensive process because we've only started at the beginning of this semester," Hunt said. "We're trying to get it done before the elections this year."
The committee aims to clarify election rules, Hunt said. It is also hoping to establish an ethics committee. The purpose of the ethics committee is to hear any sort of accusations made by a candidate. If the ethics committee does not deem the accusations credible, the accuser may appeal to the judicial board if they believe the laws were not carried out correctly, or if there is new evidence to present to the case.
After the events of last year, King said the election bylaws were the No. 1 internal priority for SGA.
"I didn't want a student to go through the same frustration and complication as I had to go through in order to get elected as student body president," King said.
Once the election rules and procedures are analyzed and found to be satisfactory under legal standards, they will be submitted and voted on by the SGA senate. King is optimistic about the new process.
"These rules will be effective," King said. "I never want to hear of a case where a student was disqualified for no legitimate reason. Basically, we're not going to have a judicial board dictate the election results. That's not fair, it's not equal and that's not even part of the idea of government."
Jason Morrow can be reached at jason.morrow@murraystate.edu.
Wes Hunt, junior from Crayne, Ky., was appointed to become the chair of the Election Ways and Means Committee. Hunt said the goal for the committee is to make comprehensive and critical analysis of the election rules and change the by-laws as needed.
In last year's elections there were several accusations of election violations brought against SGA President Eric King, to the student government judicial board. King was found guilty by the judicial board of a class two offense, which was punishable by disqualification. The problem, Hunt said, was there was no appeals process for King to make a case for himself. The appeal was finally taken before University president Randy Dunn who overturned the judicial board's ruling over the summer.
"The events of last year looked bad for the University and made SGA not look credible in handling its own matters," Hunt said. "The purpose this year is to keep SGA matters within SGA."
The committee has worked rigorously to have a draft of the new bylaws ready before Spring Break.
"It's been a pretty intensive process because we've only started at the beginning of this semester," Hunt said. "We're trying to get it done before the elections this year."
The committee aims to clarify election rules, Hunt said. It is also hoping to establish an ethics committee. The purpose of the ethics committee is to hear any sort of accusations made by a candidate. If the ethics committee does not deem the accusations credible, the accuser may appeal to the judicial board if they believe the laws were not carried out correctly, or if there is new evidence to present to the case.
After the events of last year, King said the election bylaws were the No. 1 internal priority for SGA.
"I didn't want a student to go through the same frustration and complication as I had to go through in order to get elected as student body president," King said.
Once the election rules and procedures are analyzed and found to be satisfactory under legal standards, they will be submitted and voted on by the SGA senate. King is optimistic about the new process.
"These rules will be effective," King said. "I never want to hear of a case where a student was disqualified for no legitimate reason. Basically, we're not going to have a judicial board dictate the election results. That's not fair, it's not equal and that's not even part of the idea of government."
Jason Morrow can be reached at jason.morrow@murraystate.edu.
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