Several Student Senators may be booted from their jobs as early as next week if the ASUO Constitution Court decides that elected officials should replace appointed seats immediately after the elections.
The student government’s executive branch has decided not to have the students elected to the Student Senate fill vacant and appointed seats immediately after the election, a move that is likely to draw not only criticism but also a grievance. Instead, the ASUO Executive plans to have them filled on May 25, when most of the seats will switch over.
The Constitution Court, which rules on all interpretations of the ASUO Constitution, hasn’t announced its decision yet.
The ASUO Green Tape Notebook, the rules and guideline manual for student government, appears to contradict itself regarding when elected officials should take office to replace appointed senators.
One rule states that the elected candidates should take office immediately and act as senator for the remainder of the term. Those elected by the student body will fill both vacant seats and appointed seats.
Another rule states that all elected officers will start their terms on May 25, which is the rule The Executive says it will follow.
An anonymous source from within student government said that filing a grievance is more than warranted in this situation because the Executive’s interpretation is “completely incorrect.”
Currently, four appointed senators face losing their positions because candidates are running for their seats. The Senate currently has three vacancies, seats 10, 11 and 12. An uncontested candidate is running for each seat.
ASUO Vice President Kyla Coy said the tradition has been to wait until May 25 and then have all elected students “roll over” on the Senate simultaneously. Until then, two recently vacated seats will remain open until the May rollover date.
The chief justice of the Constitution Court said that the court has not been able to make a ruling on the three clauses in question because it couldn’t make quorum.
The ASUO Executive is also facing review from the Constitution Court for not appointing a senator to a seat that has been vacant since February. The ASUO Constitution states that appointments to vacancies shall be made within 30 calendar days of the opening. The appointment to Seat 16, formerly occupied by Jessica Nair, was made at the first Senate meeting of the term, two months after the vacancy. Nair hasn’t been on Senate payroll since Feb. 1, Coy said.
So far this year, the turnover rate has been high in the Senate, and the Executive has had to appoint nine students to fill vacancies. Several senators of the 18-seat body resigned this year because the time the job required took away from their studies.
Seat 16, for which the Executive made an appointment Wednesday evening at the Senate meeting, is contested. Athan Papailiou, the appointee, is running against Ryan Bourdo in the election.
Senator Dallas Brown said during Wednesday’s meeting that he thought the Senate should wait to appoint Papailiou because of what’s at stake for the other candidate. The Senate voted unanimously to appoint Papailiou.
According to the Green Tape and Coy, if Bourdo wins, the Executive’s appointment will be overridden in fewer than three months and whoever won the majority of students votes this spring will be placed on the Senate.
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