NEC releases updated Fair Practices Code for elections

Although the Nominations and Elections Committee made few substantial changes to the rules governing student-government elections this year, the body has focused on making the rules clearer to candidates in an effort to avoid campaign violations. Last year, 44 of 56 candidates were charged with election violations, largely as a result of an allegedly illegal e-mail. Only one candidate -- then-Undergraduate Assembly Vice Chairperson and College senior Larry Kamin -- was actually disqualified. On Tuesday, the NEC released its newly-updated Fair Practices Code, which regulates UA and University Council elections. For the first time, the NEC will also be running all class board elections. The class boards used to run their own elections. But members and advisers requested that the elections be turned over to the NEC, according to NEC Vice Chairperson for Elections Mike Brody. "Class board elections have not always been run with efficiency and validity," said Brody, a College sophomore. There have been several changes to this year's code, according to Brody, who said a special task force was organized to review the code after fall elections. Most of the changes involve simple rewording and "tightening of the language" in order to make it clearer, he said. According to NEC Chairperson and College senior Chris LaVigne, the impetus for these changes had to do with the fact that, in the past, the FPC was very ambiguous and open to interpretation by both the candidates and the NEC. On the day following each election, there is a Fair Practices Code hearing during which charges may be brought against a candidate or against the NEC for alleged violations of the code. Because of the ambiguity of the code, these hearings often lasted for hours and were inconclusive, according to LaVigne. After considering the charges, the NEC announces the results of the election at the end of the meeting. "At the FPC hearing last year, it became clear that we need to revise [the code] because it was very ambiguous," LaVigne said. "We hope that this year's FPC will give the candidates a more explicit sense of the rules -- of what they can and can't do." Undergraduate Chairperson and College junior Noah Bilenker agreed that something needed to be done to clarify the guidelines set forth by the FPC. "Last year's hearing was ridiculously long," he said. "There was just a tremendous amount of accusations." The code also set down requirements for the now-NEC-run class board elections, including setting the number of required signatures to run and allocating an extra $5 to candidates who run for both class boards and the UA. According to the new FPC rules, in order to become a candidate for class president, an individual must obtain 500 signatures from his or her respective class and a candidate for vice president must obtain 400. Those wishing to run for secretary, treasurer or vice president for corporate sponsorship must obtain 250 signatures each, while candidates for the at-large positions of school representative must obtain signatures from 10 percent of their class within their home school. According to LaVigne, this change was made in an effort to narrow down the typically large pool of class board candidates in order to avoid costly and time-consuming run-offs. LaVigne said significantly fewer signatures were required last year, although he did not know the exact number. Junior Class President Sarah Gleit, a College junior, said increasing the number of signatures will attract better candidates by forcing them to put in more time and meet more students. The number of required signatures for UA candidacy has not been changed from last year's code. A second change, made at the request of the UA, precludes anyone planning to take a semester abroad from running for office. According to Bilenker, the UA had problems this year when a member of the body decided to go abroad for a semester. The other changes consisted mainly of rewording clauses in an effort to make the rules more explicit to candidates.