Two lawsuits are pending in the Government of the Student Body Supreme Court that challenge the ongoing search for an election commissioner and take steps to help the senate meet its deadlines.

The court will conduct a hearing today at 7 p.m. in the Regency Room of the Memorial Union to rule on the lawsuits, said GSB Chief Justice Alex Olson.

The first lawsuit, filed by GSB Attorney General Chris Wisher, charges the senate with nonfeasance – or not upholding its duty – after senators voted against seating Steve Skutnik as election commissioner.

Skutnik, who was nominated for the position by the GSB Appointment Committee, was the only applicant for election commissioner.

According to the GSB Constitution, the number of seats for each college and residence constituency must be determined before the senate adjourns for the semester. And to do this, according to the constitution, the senate needs to approve an election commissioner.

The second lawsuit, filed by the senate, places the same nonfeasance charges on the appointment committee.

According to the lawsuit, the committee did not nominate an applicant in time for the senate to give the bill enough consideration.

Both lawsuits ask for the same relief – a court-appointed interim election commissioner to conduct the apportionment, or distribution of the seats for next year.

Wisher, who filed the charges against the senate and will defend the appointment committee, said the senate had other options after it voted against Skutnik, who served on the election commission last year.

“They could have reconfirmed members of the previous election commission,” said Wisher, who was last year’s election commissioner.

Wisher said the senate could have acted against the appointment committee itself, according to the GSB Bylaws and GSB Constitution, by removing members or impeaching the vice president, who heads the appointment committee.

Andrew Kothenbeutel, speaker of the senate, said the senate wasn’t given enough time to review the Appointment Committee’s nomination of Skutnik.

“The problem is, we have a legal process that requires two reads of bills,” Kothenbeutel said. “By the time we got the bill, it was too late. There was not time for [Skutnik] to do his job or for us to do our job.”

Kothenbeutel said any restrictions placed on the senate to confirm or deny the appointment would “undermine the senate’s authority to review actions of the executive branch.”

Barring dismissal of both lawsuits by the GSB Supreme Court, an interim election commissioner likely will be appointed by the court to conduct the apportionment of seats by the deadline. If not, Wisher said, another applicant will have to be nominated by the appointment committee and approved by the senate before it adjourns for the semester.

Skutnik, associate justice on the GSB Supreme Court, has stepped down from the court for the hearing.

GSB Vice President Charlie Johnson, who heads the appointment committee, said the committee did not want to rush its nomination for an election commissioner.

The committee has been recruiting applicants since mid-September, Johnson said, and Skutnik gave the only response.

“We’re not trying to point fingers,” Johnson said. “I think this will turn into a joint measure to say, OK, we need a remedy.”