After many weeks of debating, senate elections will maintain the same ticket setup as last year.
Ohio University's Student Senate voted Wednesday night not to go through with the proposed changes to setup of election tickets after weeks of debating.
Senate members failed to pass a resolution which would change the structure of elections to only allow candidates for executive, at-large, Senate Appropriation Committee and uFund positions to run on a ticket. However, all candidates running to become off-campus, academic college or residential green senators could run on slates. For example, candidates running for East Green, West Green and South Green senators could run together on a slate but no one else could run with them.
Landen Lama, lead parliamentarian and election committee chair, said many members of the senate are interested in getting student input on the structure of future elections.
“We still have options in our wheelhouse of putting (a question) on the ballot asking students their opinion of running a slate system,” Lama said. “Maybe that’s a route we’ll go.”
Besides the election ticket setup resolution, the body voted on six additional resolutions with three of those also focused on reforms to senate elections in the spring.
Those three resolutions consisted of changing the use of the term “party” to the term “ticket,” setting a cap on in-kind, non-monetary donations to a value of $25 and including the in-kind donations as part of the overall spending cap.
Three non-election resolutions were passed on Wednesday night’s meeting.
Those resolutions consisted of passing a budget funding “Take Back the Night,” an annual event with the mission of ending sexual violence, supporting minority students on campus and purchasing a budget management system for SAC.
Senate's resolution supporting minority students calls for a letter in favor of the NAACP’s efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive campus, for there to be more black resident assistants, orientation leaders, learning community leaders, tutors and tour guides on OU's campus and other measures, according to resolution.
Alexis Apparicio, at-large senator and sponsor of the resolution, said the resolution passing is a step forward.
“There is a lot of racial tension on campus that goes unnoticed and unrecognized,” Apparicio said. “As student leaders in Student Senate I think that if we didn’t support this, then how would we expect anyone else to support it.”
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The budget management system will cost SAC $5,500 and was proposed to “improve record keeping, transparency, and general organization,” according to the resolution.
Hannah Clouser, senate treasurer, said the resolution passing is exciting.
“It will be very useful, not only to SAC, but all student organizations across campus,” Clouser said.
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