Election violated ELBO by-laws

This weekend's hurried senatorial elections appear to be in violation of the TCU Election Board (ELBO) by-laws that require the group to advertise open senate seats in the Daily for "at least ten academic days prior to an election." Junior Cristina Gioioso was confirmed at Sunday's senate meeting when she was the only person to present herself as a candidate for the seat.

The election to replace the senate seat vacated by Melissa Carson last week was originally slated to happen today, which would have allowed a longer publicity period. ELBO's advertising consisted of two full-page ads in the Daily last week, and attempts were made to advertise the election on TuftsLife.com, though nothing made it to the Web site.

"We had heard stories in the past of elections not getting held within the time stipulated by the constitution," ELBO member Abby Lillienfeld acknowledged. According to Lillienfeld, these elections were hurried to both avoid long delays and to have a full senate body in case presidential elections were called.

"We were not clear on the by-laws; there are new ones that are being drafted, but are not yet in effect," said Lillienfeld, one of the three freshmen who make up ELBO. The by-law in question also states that attempts should be made to contact students who are currently studying abroad.

ELBO members said that they are not in violation of the by-laws since they would have done more outreach had more people presented themselves as candidates. "Ideally we would have had more time this semester," Lillienfeld said. "It was unexpected."

Members of the Senate Executive Board who were consulted did not feel that the election was too rushed, however. "I think adequate time was provided," sophomore parliamentarian Adam Koeppel said.

Senators cited the two Daily ads and Melissa Carson's resignation letter as sufficient outreach to notify potential candidates. "It's always harder to have special elections," senior historian Allison Clarke said. "I think this was the same advertising or better advertising [as in other elections]."

Some senators went further, praising the speed of the elections. Vice President Andrew Potts attributed the speed of the elections to the "extraordinary ELBO that we have." In the past, 20 or 30 days have passed before elections took place and previous ELBO's have required orders from the TCU Judiciary, Potts said.

Senators do not have any input with regard to election timetables.

Lillienfeld and the other two ELBO members, Jennifer Salluzzo and Elizabeth Oo, officially joined the group just this month. Traditionally, each ELBO body drafts new by-laws, although the current redraft has yet to be submitted for approval from the TCU Judiciary.