BEC considers bylaw revision
Published Oct. 31, 2006
The Board of Elections Commissioners and Missouri Students Association presidential and vice presidential slates discussed the definition of a polling place in a meeting Sunday. Current bylaws include locations with multiple stationary computers as polling locations, which limit the candidate's ability to campaign nearby.
The BEC regulates polling, campaigning and voting during the MSA elections.
"There is a section of our MSA bylaws that talks about what polling locations are, and we as the BEC have started looking at it," BEC Chairwoman Michelle Compton said. "It doesn't really address how campus is set up now."
Currently, locations with multiple stationary computers are defined as polling locations, regardless of whether they are official Information & Access Technology Services labs. The bylaws dictate that candidates are unable to campaign within 50 feet of any polling location.
The 45th Session Handbook of the MSA Senate says students may use their personal laptops to vote but these are not designated as polling places.
"Take the bookstore, for instance, where there are three to four computers sitting there," BEC Vice Chairwoman Rachel Crader said. "It means pretty much anywhere in Brady Commons they would not be able to campaign."
Crader said that the BEC wants to update the bylaws, without making any drastic changes, to make them more reflective of the current situation on campus.
The BEC meeting also addressed reform for future debates, both in content and in procedure. Potential reforms to debate structure include making questions harder and more specific, Compton said.
The policy allows for questions to be submitted from both candidates and various officials on campus. Write-in questions from those in the audience are also used.
"With people writing in questions, if they're directed to one slate, we can't just ask one slate just one question," Compton said.
Structural concerns included lengthening the amount of time allotted for rebuttals during the debates.
"They all sort of expressed that maybe we should look into changing the way our rebuttals work," Compton said. "We have not made a decision yet. We probably will amend that a little bit."
The BEC will come to a decision regarding rebuttal times at an executive board meeting at noon Wednesday.