The Undergraduate Senate shortened the Board of Elections policy book unanimously at this weekend’s meeting on April 22.
The policy book lists the election rules each Student Government candidate must follow during his or her campaign.
The BOE reformed election policy in order to make the rules easier to follow, according to Chairman of the Board of Elections Phil Cardarella.
Candidates are currently allowed to prepare for their campaign before it actually begins, as long as preparation does not occur in public areas.
The BOE originally reformed the policy book to allow supporters to wear T-shirts and pins, called “passive campaigning,” in the Kay Spiritual Life Center. However, SG senators later decided to ban all campaigning from Kay.
Cardarella pushed for allowing passive campaigning in Kay and believes someone will accidently break the rule.
Other senators echoed Cardarella, saying supporters may forget to remove a pin before walking into Kay.
“If you want to wear a pin, if you want to wear a shirt, you should be able to wear a pin, you should be able to wear a shirt,” said Class of 2015 Senator Ryan Stanley. “There is current restriction in that bill, restriction from active campaigning. No one is going to be bothered by this.”
However, former BOE Chairman and Class of 2014 Senator Dan Lewis disagreed, believing student politics and religion should remain separate.
“I do not want to go to Mass, I do not want anybody to have to go to a spiritual service and have to see people politicking with SG,” Lewis said. “It’s ridiculous. Personally, I think it’s offensive.”
The amendment passed with a vote of 11 in favor, 9 opposed, and 1 abstained.
“Honestly, I don’t see a problem with what happened,” Lewis said of the amendment. “This wasn’t an issue even before there was such rules.”
Staff writer Katie Fiegenbaum contributed to this report.
Stanley is a contributing writer for The Eagle.
hmongilio@theeagleonline.com
