IUSA Election Commission to allow write-ins

Students still interested in running an executive ticket in the IU Student Association election now have until 5 p.m. Sunday to submit an application.

The decision to allow a write-in option on the election ballot was announced by Chair of Election Commission Evan Farrell at Tuesday night’s IUSA Congress meeting.

“We’re still going to go through the same process even if there is only one ticket,” Farrell said.

Members of Movement for IUSA’s executive group were present at the meeting, which was a combination of the mandatory all-candidate meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday night and the regular IUSA biweekly congressional meeting.

The Election Commission will hold a make-up all-candidate meeting at 7 p.m. Monday for any new tickets that announce their candidacy. All tickets that submit an application before the Sunday deadline will be held to the rules outlined in the election code.

“We made every effort we could to advertise as much as we could,” IUSA President Justin Kingsolver said. “It wasn’t me trying to choose my successor.”  

This is the first time a one-ticket election has occurred since 2007. That year, the High 5 ticket dropped out a few weeks into the race “due to timing issues and future preoccupations for next year,” then-High 5 presidential candidate Shane Whittington told the Indiana Daily Student on Feb. 12, 2007.

Their dropping out left the Hoosier ticket as the only executive candidate in the running. At that time, the executive elections were canceled, making the Hoosier ticket the “executive group elect” while the congressional election was held as usual.

This option was considered when the current elections commission made their decision.

However, Farrell said the best way to allow for competition within the election process would be to allow write-ins.   

This is different than extending the deadline because any new tickets will not have the benefit of having their name already on the ballot with a check box next to it, Farrell said.

The elections commission will only recognize write-ins on the ballot on Election Day if that ticket submitted an application by the Sunday deadline. This will ensure that all tickets up for candidacy will have upheld the election code during their campaign, IUSA Advisor R.J. Woodring said.

“I very much endorse their idea. I think it’s great that they’re allowing more people to apply,” said current IUSA Treasurer and Movement for IUSA Presidential Candidate Kyle Straub.

If Movement for IUSA remains the only ticket in the race, Straub said, his ticket will continue to campaign as much as possible, but instead of promoting Movement for IUSA, they will work to promote IUSA as a whole.

“We’ll be able to expand our reach to other groups because we’re not as concerned about getting the majority’s vote,” Straub said.

The debate will occur as scheduled at 7 p.m. March 27 in Fine Arts 015. If no other tickets submit their applications, the debate will be held as a public forum in which students can ask Movement for IUSA questions about its platform.

“There are 750 student organizations on campus, and it’s easy to get lost in the noise,” Woodring said. “I anticipate in future years we’ll have multiple tickets run again.”  

The current IUSA election code that was proposed Dec. 6, 2011, does not include any listed protocol for a one-ticket race.

IUSA Congress approves election codes every few years, and because the organization itself has such a high turnover rate from year to year, Woodring said, there’s not any “institutional memory” within the organization. However, Woodring said he plans to emphasize some of the points they’ve learned through these events for future election code revisions.
 
The commission warned the current sole applicant ticket to pay special mind to the election code. They reviewed three key parts of the code that past tickets have found problematic in past elections on Election Day: tickets cannot pass out anything of value no more than $1, no amplified sounds can be used and no more than three people per ticket at one voting site.

“These are very serious infringements,” election commission member Danny Schuster said.

If the code is not followed, the ticket’s application may be overturned, and without a successor, the future of IUSA could be called into question.

Congressional elections will go on as normal. Candidates may still run as unaffiliated members, Farrell said.