The Government of the Student Body is ready to resume deliberation on bills when the senate reconvenes tonight after a three-week break.

Among the issues to be tackled is the debate over the registration process for the upcoming spring elections.

GSB President Bryan Burkhardt intended the senate to vote on and pass the bill that laid out the process at a special session on Dec. 9. However, things did not turn out as planned, he said.

“We still don’t have a registration process outlined. We did vote … during the special session, but then a case was filed with the GSB Supreme Court by [LAS] Senator Mike Pogge against GSB, saying that the process that had been outlined was in violation of the Iowa Open Meetings Act,” Burkhardt said.

“In accordance to GSB bylaws, we are supposed to conform to the act and publish an agenda 24 hours in advance. But because of the timeliness of the issue, we were unable to do it,” he said.

Due to the issue raised by Pogge, Burkhardt said the legislation passed by the senate had to be vetoed.

“There is no way that GSB could defend itself against the case, but I believe that because of the importance and timeliness of the issue, we could not get the agenda out,” he said.

“I vetoed that legislation because if it had not been vetoed, the case would not have been dismissed, and the entire election process would have been at risk.”

Pogge said he filed the case because he was “disturbed” with the way GSB was handling the registration process.

“I felt they were not following the rules,” he said.

“GSB rules say we will follow the Iowa Open Meetings Act, and when they called the special meeting and passed the bill, it didn’t feel like they were conforming with the act,” he said.

Pogge said he has dropped the case.

The registration process has been a continual cause of controversy, primarily because of the debate over specialty seats in the senate.

Specialty seats include disabilities, international, non-traditional and American ethnic minority.

Jamal White, vice president of GSB, said although he did not agree with Pogge’s case, he understood that some people do have concerns with the specialty seats as part of the registration process.

“In general, I think that if you don’t like specialty seats, it’s admirable to just come out and say so,” White said. “But I don’t really think tactics like [Pogge’s case] should be employed.”

White said it would have been beneficial to GSB and the entire election process if the issue had been resolved at the special meeting.

“Nothing can be done until it is passed,” he said.

“Now, the election commissioner has to wait until Wednesday [after the meeting] to set up the registration process, which has to be done six weeks prior to the election,” White said.

White said problems with specialty seats have arisen before.

“People have expressed opinions that the seats aren’t fair, but I think that argument is invalid because it’s not true,” he said.

“Anyone can run for a specialty seat without being that specific specialty,” White said. “You just have a different, more specific constituency.”

White also said there has been controversy regarding the issue of equal representation.

Most students are represented by a residence hall, greek or off-campus senator as well as a college senator, but those who fit under a specialty category have a third senator working for them.

Pogge said he has his own concerns regarding specialty seats.

“It’s a very hot topic within GSB and very passionate on all sides,” he said.

“I have tried to remain in the middle and neutral, but after reviewing specialty seats, I do have concerns that [they] are not a type of representation that should be on the senate,” Pogge said.