Election Commission
Under the old election commission system, the IUSA president selected the head of the election commission, who then selected the other four members. These members remained part of the election commission for one ?election cycle.
The election commission was not placed under any given branch.
Under the new system, members of the IUSA executive branch and the IUSA Supreme Court jointly selected, with IUSA Congressional approval, the nine members of the election commission who will then retain the positions until they graduate.
When the current members of the election commission graduate, they will self-select, with IUSA Congressional approval, new members.
The elections commission is placed under the IUSA Supreme Court.
“By making the commission self-sustaining, there is the benefit of continuity from year to year, which eliminates the steep learning curve that, in the past, has been detrimental to the flow of elections,” IUSA election commissioner Aparna Srinath said.
Infractions
Complaints concerning potential infractions must now be filed through an online submission form.
Upon receiving a complaint, the election commission will distribute a copy of the complaint to the IUSA Supreme Court and the IU director of student life and learning and will post a copy of the complaint outside the IUSA office.
Upon accepting a complaint, the election commission will evaluate the infraction according to a pre-determined list. The pre-determined list will outline several infractions and their corresponding percentage-based loss of votes. The percentage-based loss of votes will be proportional to the severity of the infraction.
“We made changes to the election code to simplify and streamline the way we handle code infractions,” said Katy Flanigan, member of the IUSA elections commission. “In the past, it was unclear what sanctions tickets would face when committing a code infraction and, therefore, sanctions were inconsistent year to year.”
Polling Stations
The election commission will run polling stations at a minimum three locations, which will likely be near the Woodburn clock tower, near Dunn Meadow and on the corner of 10th Street and Fee Lane. The election commission must distribute a list of finalized polling stations to each ticket at least one week prior to the first election day.
Though any individual affiliated with any ticket may not be within 10 feet of any polling station unless casting a vote, each ticket may display promotional material at each polling station. The primary purpose of the promotional material, however, must be to inform the voters of the ticket and its platforms.
“Previously, tickets themselves ran and operated polling stations, often giving some tickets an unfair advantage,” Srinath said. “By centralizing the polling stations, now run by the commission, we can encourage students to vote based on the perceived quality of each ticket rather than the sheer volume or presence of a certain ticket on campus.”
The election must now occur during the spring semester on any two consecutive days occurring on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The election must also occur at least two weeks after the first all-candidate debate.
Ballot
The ballot must now identify each ticket and provide a brief overview of each ticket’s platforms.
The elections commission will send a username-specific email to every student with a link to the online ballot.
“We hope that sending the link to vote from the third party election commission will decrease voter bias,” Flanigan said. “It was previously the responsibility of the tickets themselves to disseminate the link ?to vote.”
