The Government of the Student Body came within one vote of removing election comissioner Nicholas Davis on Sunday afternoon. With a vote of 22-2-1, the senate was one vote short of the required 23 votes to remove Davis. [Corrected from: With a vote of 22-2-1 the Government of the Student Body Senate decided Sunday that election commissioner Nicholas Davis will not be removed from his position.]

Senator Dakota Hoben, junior in agricultural business, began by describing how Davis, junior in political science, failed to submit the apportionment bill, which must be submitted to the speaker no less than three senate meetings prior to the end of fall semester.

Hoben said Davis still has not provided the apportionment bill and that Hoben has given Davis all necessary recourse to complete the task and still, to this day, has not completed the task.

“We do not stand for this in the student body,” Hoben said.

Hoben read over the evidence of GSB president Luke Roling, senior in chemical engineering, asking Davis to complete the apportionment bill via e-mail.

Davis said completing the bill was not an easy task and that he had to look at every single address to see who is in Campustown and who is in west Ames.

“It’s not as doable and easy as you would like to think. I had to count through thousands of people,” Davis said.

Senator Sean Morrissey, junior in environmental science, asked Roling about the communication he had at the time of Davis’ appointment.

Roling said he had notified Davis of his duties and that Davis was informed of the process and what he was supposed to be doing. Roling became involved by way of Mary McBirnie, secretary for the Dean of Students Office.

McBirnie had asked Roling to do some follow-ups and check up on Davis because she wasn’t receiving replies. As soon as Roling heard this he tried to text, e-mail and speak in person with Davis about the apportionment bill.

Roling said neither he nor anyone on the senate had received the apportionment bill or the election timeline. Roling said Davis had e-mailed him back around the time of apportionment and said there had been an emergency regarding a death in the family and said that he would try to get it done.

Marybeth Konkowski, junior in communication studies, has been on the election commission for four years and said the apportionment bill has been something that in the past has just been done.

She said Davis arranged meetings at the beginning of the semester to try to get a head start, but she said she is not aware that the bill has been completed.

Konkowski had been at the first few meetings and she had missed three or four meetings. She also said that as a whole the commission usually doesn’t get involved with the apportionment bill. She said that if she had known something needed to be taken care of she would have willingly helped out with the process.

Davis took the stand to testify on his own behalf. He began by saying that the 2010 numbers were given to him from Marcia McDowell, clerk for records and registration. During homecoming he was informed that his grandmother’s health was looking bleak and he was in and out of Ames for the next two weeks.

When he arrived in Ames again after his grandmother’s death he did not have much time to work on the apportionment bill since he was behind in his coursework due to his absence.

He then tried to work on the apportionment bill. He submitted the incomplete apportionment bill thinking that a partially complete bill was better than nothing. After this he finished his schoolwork and then started on the bill again.

Davis realized he did not have all the correct information that he needed as he tried to finish the bill. He then tried to obtain the information from the Registrar’s Office during Thanksgiving break, realizing that they would be out of the office until after break.

Davis said he called people to try to get the complete information but was not able to locate it in time before Thanksgiving break was over. Davis finally received the addresses needed Dec. 6 and started filtering area codes needed for the bill.

Davis said he wasn’t aware that he could ask for help from the rest of the commission. He said he felt that they would be stepping on each other’s toes, the only thing that needed work was sifting through thousands of area codes and that the job only needed one person.

The bill has been finished but still hasn’t been submitted, Davis said. He said it took him approximately 12 hours to finish. Davis didn’t think it was relevant to bring the completed bill considering they were already having the trial. Davis also said he wasn’t aware of the consequences that would come about after not submitting the bill on time.

The impeachment process began Nov. 28, the Sunday students returned from Thanksgiving break. Davis said this impeachment has made it hard for him to do his job because he feels that he didn’t want to do the bill considering the possibility that he would be impeached.

Roling said that although he is head of GSB, he is not in charge of the election commission. They run separately and Roling felt that he went above and beyond his normal duties to remind Davis of his duties. He didn’t necessarily have to help out Davis but decided to because he wanted things to run smoothly. Roling was notified Nov. 8 of Davis’ grandmother’s death and did not receive any more requests for meetings with Davis.

Morrissey reminded the senate that Davis had ample time and every resource necessary. Morrissey said Davis wasted a lot of his own time and GSB’s time.

Davis responded by saying that he doesn’t see how holding this hearing was beneficial. By kicking him out, GSB would not have an apportionment bill, election timeline or election commissioner.

“This process would be the actual waste of time,” Davis said.

He said he has a valid reason to not finish the bill on time.

“In my opinion, anyone who would vote to remove me has a lack of empathy and that a little empathy needs to be shown here,” Davis said.

After cases were submitted, the senate went into closed session. Davis left right after the senate went into closed session and did not return to hear the outcome.