At the Government of the Student Body’s meeting, the Senate passed revisions made by the GSB Election Commission to its election code.

Changes included reduction of signatures executive candidates need to collect in order to get their name on the ballot, a ban placed on the passing of election petition sheets in class and changes in when and in the way students can campaign for office.  

“The Election Commission decided that the most important aspect that we felt was lacking in the elections was consistency and wanted to start a more fair and consistent system to run a more fair and publicized election,” said Adam Guenther, election commissioner, in reference to the election code changes.

The most debated change made in the code was the ban on passing of election petition sheets around during classes.

This was a change that drew mixed reactions from GSB senators, some who stated that the passing of these sheets spread the word about GSB and garnered awareness for GSB. Others who supported the change saw passing petition sheets around a classroom as an interruption of class time and as an easy way for senators to collect signatures.

“It was simply that class time is for academics and the commission, and I agree that the students deserve the right to not be bothered during a time that they pay for an education by GSB and the election process,” Guenther said.

David Pedersen, senator for the College of Business, pointed out some positives in passing around petition sheets, saying how many professors required a candidate to make a speech about GSB and what they were running for to the class before handing the sheet out. Pedersen also stated the need to spread the word about GSB and the elections.

“We need to make it more of the idea of making speeches before the class and then collecting signatures after the class,” Pedersen said.

The Election Commission also reduced the number of signatures required by executive candidates to get their name on the ballot from 1,500 to 1,000 stating that the amount was too high and was too tedious for people running for the executive position. This reduction should allow for an easier process for students interested in running for the presidential position.

Students running for GSB seats may start collecting election petition signatures after they have attended a candidate seminar and after Jan. 21, 2013; they may begin open campaigning after Jan. 25, 2013. Active campaigning while the polls are open during Election Day has also been banned by the election commission.

“These election code changes get rid of a lot of red tape and also clarifies the unknown areas of the code which were in the past up to the discretion of the election commission,” Pedersen said.