ASPSU assembles this year’s Elections Board

As classes resumed this week for the start of winter term, so did Student Senate meetings. And one of the most pressing issues currently facing ASPSU is the assembly of an Elections Board to oversee the next student government election.

This committee must be comprised of both students and senators, according to ASPSU President Katie Markey. In accordance with specifications outlined in the ASPSU constitution, the E-Board must consist of at least four students and one student senator.

In an unofficial Senate meeting held this past Tuesday, several senators expressed interest in filling the senate seat on the E-Board, though doing so will disqualify them from running for any executive position within ASPSU in the coming year to prevent issues of candidate favoritism.

According to Markey, there has been a general lack of interest on the student end in sitting on the board, despite the fact that positions offer a paid stipend. As of Jan. 4, only two students have approached ASPSU to express interest in filling the vacant committee seats.

“Winter break really acts as a road block to this sort of thing,” Markey said.

General lack of interest isn’t the only obstacle ASPSU must overcome, either. The board must be selected before the end of the second week of winter term, giving Markey only one more week to appoint candidates and finalize the committee. Once the official group is established, it will be in charge of managing the election proceedings until May 31.

As stated in Article 8 of the ASPSU constitution, the first order of the committee is to interpret the E-Board bylaws and maintain the integrity of the electoral process. Throughout the entirety of the election, which will begin the third week of spring term, the board will act as a governing body, presiding over all issues surrounding the election. Committee members decide on appropriate campaigning spaces and act as a policing component to the electoral process. It is up to the committee to monitor candidates and investigate infractions of the rules established by the group.

“There are two types of infractions: major and minor. The Elections Board watches the candidates and makes sure that all rules are followed,” Markey said. “Candidates are also expected to abide by state law while running for office.”

Once the official candidates have been selected, it is up to the E-Board to create a non-partisan voting pamphlet to help educate and inform students. They are also tasked with promoting the elections and fostering student awareness.

This year, the E-Board also hopes to address technical issues that plagued the elections last year. Compounding PSU’s already low voter turnout, the voting program used last year made it difficult to count all students that voted. If the student did not fill out every field on their electronic ballot, it was automatically discounted.

“This is something we need to fix,” Markey said. “It would cost far too much to design and implement a new program, but it should be addressed.”

Last year, the E-Board also played a major role in an investigation into Markey’s—as well as her running mate, former ASPSU Vice President Selina Poulsen’s—use of voter registration cards to obtain student voter data. The complaint was presented by her opponent, Jill Heimensen, but was never formalized. The E-Board found that Markey was using the cards for lobbying in Salem and ruled that this was not an infraction of campaign rules.?