SGA Elections: Electioneering Violation?
Are some SGA candidates violating SGA election rules?
posted over 10 years ago
First of all, let me say that I have absolutely no connection to any of the candidates for SGA Pres/VP. I have never met any of the four of them, I did not vote in last year's elections for that position, and I have never served in SGA. Also, I want to make it clear that I am not accusing them of any wrongdoing. I'm just wondering if a policy is being violated.
Voting for UMBC SGA positions started at 12:00am this morning, and as of my vote this morning, over 1000 students had already voted for the Pres/VP position.
I am impressed by the strength of the campaign team for Ganesh and Valerie. They have people all over campus sporting red t-shirts that say something like "Ganesh/Valerie for SGA". When other students pass them, the campaigners ask "Have you voted yet?" As I passed the library, I overheard two campaigners telling a student about the candidates' past achievements. And while studying in the library, I was approached by a student campaigning for Jeffrey and Marquez who talked about problems for commuters and then asked me to vote.
It's nice to see students showing so much concern for the SGA elections. When I was a freshman (2009-2010) I don't remember there being nearly as much of a public showing.
But I was thinking about it... Does this violate the electioneering rule in the provisions governing SGA elections? Electioneering is the practice of campaigning for a candidate at a polling place (and thereby potentially directly influencing the vote). Many of these campaigners have iPads and are asking students to vote right then, on the iPad, if they have not already done so. It's obviously not an official polling place, but some students are choosing to vote right then.
According to UMBC's SGA election rules, "Electioneering within 15 feet of any polling station is prohibited." I think this campaign strategy is questionable. In fact, when I mentioned "electioneering" to one person campaigning, he said "Well that's what elections are all about, right?" I certainly hope not, since it violates MD law (for MD elections obviously) and it violates UMBC SGA policy.
I've attached the SGA election policies to this post, and I'm also including a link to where I got this document:
http://sga.umbc.edu/guiding_documents
What do you guys think?
Voting for UMBC SGA positions started at 12:00am this morning, and as of my vote this morning, over 1000 students had already voted for the Pres/VP position.
I am impressed by the strength of the campaign team for Ganesh and Valerie. They have people all over campus sporting red t-shirts that say something like "Ganesh/Valerie for SGA". When other students pass them, the campaigners ask "Have you voted yet?" As I passed the library, I overheard two campaigners telling a student about the candidates' past achievements. And while studying in the library, I was approached by a student campaigning for Jeffrey and Marquez who talked about problems for commuters and then asked me to vote.
It's nice to see students showing so much concern for the SGA elections. When I was a freshman (2009-2010) I don't remember there being nearly as much of a public showing.
But I was thinking about it... Does this violate the electioneering rule in the provisions governing SGA elections? Electioneering is the practice of campaigning for a candidate at a polling place (and thereby potentially directly influencing the vote). Many of these campaigners have iPads and are asking students to vote right then, on the iPad, if they have not already done so. It's obviously not an official polling place, but some students are choosing to vote right then.
According to UMBC's SGA election rules, "Electioneering within 15 feet of any polling station is prohibited." I think this campaign strategy is questionable. In fact, when I mentioned "electioneering" to one person campaigning, he said "Well that's what elections are all about, right?" I certainly hope not, since it violates MD law (for MD elections obviously) and it violates UMBC SGA policy.
I've attached the SGA election policies to this post, and I'm also including a link to where I got this document:
http://sga.umbc.edu/guiding_documents
What do you guys think?
(edited over 10 years ago)
