Senate will debate the nomination of Jacob Zirkelbach, current Student Government chief of staff, to serve as the election commissioner for this semester.

The position for election commissioner was left vacant at the end of last semester after then-commissioner Bradlee Fair resigned to pursue an alternative job opportunity.

In the position, as in accordance with the Student Government bylaws, Fair supervised the election timeline and apportionments as well as guided the revision of parts of the Election Code. 

The new election commissioner will begin to oversee the upcoming Student Government elections if approved Wednesday.

Zirkelbach has been highly involved with Student Government during his time at Iowa State and also currently serves at the senate clerk. Previously, he served as the Inter-Residence Hall Association president.

Additionally, Zirkelbach served as Cody West’s and Cody Smith’s—the current Student Government president and vice president—campaign manager during the most recent election cycle.  

In recent years, the election commission has faced some difficulties in recruitment and retention. After last semester, the election commission struggled to find students to serve on its committee.

At the end of October, the commission had three voting members out of the 12 available seats. However, the commission was able to approve more members toward the end of the semester after additional outreach regarding the available positions.

The election commission had a difficult time seating one of its current members, Noah Collins, after the senate was divided on his appointment this past fall. 

Collins had served as the election commissioner during the spring semester of 2017, after the commissioner before him ghosted the responsibilities of the position. 

During his tenure, Collins struggled with enforcing violations during the election season of which some senators took issue to during his appointment. However, after nearly three hours of debate spread over the course of two meetings, Collins was seated to the commission.

According to Student Government bylaws, the election commissioner position, as well as its nominations, are subject to senate approval.

Apart from the the possible appointment of Zirkelbach to serve as election commissioner, the senate will also discuss the nomination of Myah McCoy to serve as a graphic designer. 

If approved, responsibilities of the position include: designing materials for the use of Student Government, assigning senate, the executive branch and the public relations committee.

Outside of internal legislation, funding requests at Wednesday’s meeting include: 

• A $27,765 funding request to 88.5 KURE for phase two of their studio upgrade,
• A $50 funding request for Iowa State University Ladies in Fitness Training to help a student participate in “completion that was not originally budgeted for,”
• A $162 funding request to the ISU Sailing Club to attend an event and,
• A $1,104 funding request for ISU Pre-Veterinary Club to attend a symposium.

For more information or to contact your senator, visit stugov.iastate.edu. The senate meetings are open to the public on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.