UA revises code for election procedures

Undergraduate Assembly members last night approved several changes to the Fair Practices Code which governs UA elections and also agreed to several proposals which they hope will help streamline future elections and increase voter turnout. In one major change to the Fair Practices Code, the UA modified a section of the guideline which prevents students from signing "work appearing in any campus publication or any other form of campus media" during the days of the election. After over an hour of debate and rejection of two proposals by UA representatives, the group accepted the Nominations and Elections Committee proposal which would allow candidates to be quoted by the media as "an unidentifiable source" during the campaigns. The new section prevents candidates from issuing any statement that "has relevance to elections," and allows the NEC to decide if violations of this rule have occured. Several UA members questioned last night the fairness of the rule which prevents students, who have worked on projects unrelated to the UA, from being quoted in campus media. David Rose, chairperson of the UA Student Services Task Force Committee, said last night that "the NEC is dooming the election process to be nothing more than a popularity contest by removing issues and achievements from the public eye." UA Vice Chairperson Ethan Youderian agreed, adding that the new code "bans students from the press." College sophomore Youderian said students who work on different activities should be rewarded by having their names in the newspaper. The UA also approved several other changes which UA Chairperson Mitch Winston said he hopes will increase voter participation. The NEC, the body which oversees the election process, will set up multiple voting booths, which they avoided in the past because of the threat of double voting. The machines, which will cost between $500 and $750 dollars for the election's two days, will allow students the freedom of voting at various places on campus. The UA also agreed to allow the NEC to rent two computers to read ballots which will shorten the time it takes for the committee to count votes. And the NEC will allow candidates to have their picture printed in The Daily Pennsylvanian. In other business, the UA adopted a resolution sponsored by UA representatives Leonard Cooperman and Youderian calling on President Sheldon Hackney to hold office hours. And the UA approved a second resolution sponsored by Wharton freshman Eric Leathers and College sophomore Brian Bora objecting to the University Council Safety and Security Committee's proposed ban of bicycles on Locust Walk. "I hope that this is going to help the University Council focus more on student safety explicitly rather than bikes on the Walk," Leather said. In other matters, the UA raised the minimum amount of signatures on petitions in fall and spring elections in order to place the petition on the ballot.

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