2008 Woodie Awards
Election poster scandal raises questions in SGA
Alyson Browning
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Election days at Southwest Baptist University usually go smoothly, but for the April 11 Student Government Association Cabinet elections, a bit of controversy ensued.
A candidate had a campaign poster displayed within sight of the voting box, which is in direct violation of the SGA constitution.
The opposing candidate discovered the poster and reported it to SGA officials, who are in charge of monitoring illegal posters and other campaigning within a 50-foot radius of the voting box.
According to incumbent Student Body President senior Laura Towner, the problem was addressed by the SGA Cabinet and dealt with in a timely manner.
"It's SGA's fault the poster was not taken down and the rules were not monitored closely enough," said Towner.
This incident raised some questions among students as the poster in question belonged to an incumbent cabinet member running for a different office. But Towner stated that the candidate with the illegally placed poster did not do so on purpose. They merely forgot to remove it before voting began.
In most cases, a breech in SGA voting rules would be grounds for a re-vote; however, all parties involved decided against a re-vote stating that the votes would not have swayed enough to create a different outcome.
"The votes could have been swayed, but everyone involved agreed the votes were not swayed enough to matter," said Towner. "The margin was too large. The persons involved do not feel a [re-vote] is necessary."
SGA would like to make sure this never happens again.
"The rules were broken," said Towner. "We are going to try to monitor these rules more closely in the future."
SGA has already had a chance to increase their monitor on any breaking of procedure. An election for class officers was held Wednesday, April 18.
As of print, no illegal campaigning took place during the election.
A candidate had a campaign poster displayed within sight of the voting box, which is in direct violation of the SGA constitution.
The opposing candidate discovered the poster and reported it to SGA officials, who are in charge of monitoring illegal posters and other campaigning within a 50-foot radius of the voting box.
According to incumbent Student Body President senior Laura Towner, the problem was addressed by the SGA Cabinet and dealt with in a timely manner.
"It's SGA's fault the poster was not taken down and the rules were not monitored closely enough," said Towner.
This incident raised some questions among students as the poster in question belonged to an incumbent cabinet member running for a different office. But Towner stated that the candidate with the illegally placed poster did not do so on purpose. They merely forgot to remove it before voting began.
In most cases, a breech in SGA voting rules would be grounds for a re-vote; however, all parties involved decided against a re-vote stating that the votes would not have swayed enough to create a different outcome.
"The votes could have been swayed, but everyone involved agreed the votes were not swayed enough to matter," said Towner. "The margin was too large. The persons involved do not feel a [re-vote] is necessary."
SGA would like to make sure this never happens again.
"The rules were broken," said Towner. "We are going to try to monitor these rules more closely in the future."
SGA has already had a chance to increase their monitor on any breaking of procedure. An election for class officers was held Wednesday, April 18.
As of print, no illegal campaigning took place during the election.
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