Opening Remarks: Resolution to Reform Executive Board Election Procedure Im very excited to be here.

I spent the better part of Friday in the University Archives researching the topic were going to discuss today. I spent the better part of Saturday and this morning discussing this topic with some of you who reached out to me, and Ive been able to consolidate some of these findings to share with you. Based on conversations with our Executive Board about process, its been suggested that we focus on a couple of questions today. One question will be about the underlying principles of the policy in front of you. The other is a question of process and what is the correct way to frame whether or not we as a council should vote on any resolution on this topic. The draft resolution before you simply proposes that students who wish to run for a position on the CCSC Executive Board should not be required to run as part of a five person ticket. I strongly believe that this will make it easier for any interested students to run for a CCSC position and will make our student government more robust and better reflective of our student body. This is not something that I bring up on my own, but rather something that circumstances have brought to the Council. As some of you may know, on Friday the editorial board of the Columbia Spectator published an article titled CCSC election process for executive board is flawed. I do not expect to have a vote today, but this resolution encompasses some of the opinions expressed by those who reached out and some of the history that I discovered by researching at the archives. I believe that this resolution is an appropriate improvement to our elections system based on historical context and sound policy principles. More importantly, though, I strongly believe that we will be addressing a serious issue of process by having this conversation and deciding to make our elections fairer and more open. I worry that if we fail to take up this issue, it will look like we are attempting to preserve a system that may benefit incumbent CCSC members at the expense of the broader student body. I strongly feel that we should correct this process issue before our next elections. At Daphnes suggestion, I would like to propose that we hold a simple open forum on this issue in the next week, so that the student body may discuss these principles and process issues. We can then incorporate such feedback into the resolution and present what we learn next week. So, Id like to get your thoughts and feedback now on the merits of the policy change. If you can turn your attention to the draft of the resolution we will read it and discuss the policy involved. We can then later get to the discussion of process.

COLUMBIA COLLEGE STUDENT COUNCIL

PROPOSED: TBD RATIFIED:

RESOLUTION TO REFORM EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTION PROCEDURE

WHEREAS the CCSC Election By-Laws and the CCSC Election Rules and Regulations require candidates for the Executive Board to form parties comprising five candidates; and WHEREAS the current process of voting for parties disadvantages students who are interested in running for the Executive Board of the CCSC by creating an additional barrier to entry into the election race; and WHEREAS the current process of electing candidates forces voters to elect entire parties to the Executive Board whether or not voters would elect each candidate individually on the merits; and WHEREAS the Columbia Spectator has published a staff editorial on Feb. 21, 2014 titled the CCSC election process for executive board is flawed, to advocate for a reformed Executive Board election process that would allow Columbia College students to vote for each member of the Executive Board individually; and WHEREAS prior to the adoption of the recommendations from the 1989 Price Commission on elections procedures, candidates were not permitted to run on party tickets at all; and WHEREAS from 1989 through 1999, candidates for CCSC had the option of running on a party ticket, but were not required to run on a ticket; and WHEREAS the current process of requiring voters to select their candidates only by means of straight-ticket party voting was instituted to help defin[e] the executive board position roles and reduc[e] the ticket size and prevent executive board candidates from joining or assembling larger parties that included class council and other CCSC representative candidates according to the March 21, 2000 article in the Columbia Spectator that announced the constitutional amendment to require parties; and ACKNOWLEDGING that the roles for the Executive Board are currently more defined than when the party system was first introduced and that the size of the Executive Board ticket has been stabilized, accomplishing the original goals of the mandatory ticket system; and WHEREAS the original article announcing the voting procedure noted a fear that large parties discourage CCSC outsiders from running for office; and

WHEREAS that prior to March 2000, candidates for the Executive Board were allowed to either run without a party or choose to form a party; and WHEREAS the Engineering Student Council currently allows members of its Executive Board to be elected individually as well as in parties; Therefore be it resolved that Columbia College Student Council hereby amends the CCSC Election By-Laws as follows:
1. Changing the first line of Article 3, Section 4B of the CCSC Election By-Laws to read Executive Board Candidates may run as a party with any or all of the following positions rather than Executive Board Candidates must run as a party with all of the following positions: 2. Changing the last lines of Article 3, Section 4B of the CCSC Election By-Laws to read The Vice President for Campus Life, Vice President for Finance, and Vice President for Communications will be voted in individually, and candidates may run for these positions without a party. The President and Vice President will be voted in together. rather than The Executive Board will be voted as an entire ticket in the CCSC Elections. A vote for an individual member of the party will be counted as a vote for the entire ticket.

Therefore be it resolved that the Columbia College Student Council directs the Elections Board to change the CCSC Election Rules and Regulations to reflect the change in the CCSC Election Rules and Regulations.

Author: Daniel Liss, CCSC Alumni Affairs Representative