The news that the spring elections would be uncontested rolled through Student Government last week, sparking a series of drastic changes within the organization.

Chairwoman (and future Vice President) Kayla Dougherty presented changes to Title XIII of the Student Government Constitution to the Government Oversight committee on Friday, February 28. The changes regarded the elections and appointment process for senators.

The proposed changes would inhibit interested students from going through the appointment process to become a senator until after Candidate Declarations of Intent are due. The intention is to force those interested in becoming a senator to participate in elections rather than default to the appointment process.

These proposed changes, which were forwarded to the Senate, are the latest Student Government response to the elections. Days after it was announced that the spring senatorial and presidential elections would be uncontested, Student Government called for the resignation of Elections Commissioner Taylor Saunders and Deputy Elections Commissioner Samantha Materazzi. Madison Saul will be the Interim Elections Commissioner until March 14.

“I want to address the elephant in the room,” said President John Aloszka at a Senate meeting on February 21, where the news was announced. “There is not a contested election this semester. We did ask for the resignations of the Elections leadership team and they were received, and Madison’s going to do a great job being the Interim Elections Commissioner.”

Because elections were uncontested, Ally Schneider and Kayla Doughterty will become the acclimated President and Vice President.

“We’re definitely disappointed,” said Schneider regarding the lack of participation in elections. “It’s something we’re absolutely going to focus on in our administration, like what kind of structural change can we enact so we can make sure that this never happens again?”

Schneider and Doughterty will be focusing on changes to the Office of Elections this summer during a Constitutional Referendum as one of their first initiatives in office. The duo take office on April 3rd.

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