USG Senate approves elections court members

By HOPE CALDWELL
Collegian Staff Writer

With the Undergraduate Student Government presidential and vice presidential elections just two weeks away all the necessary positions have been filled to carry out a successful election.

Last night at the USG Senate meeting elections court members were approved. The five members include Jamie Horowitz (senior-real estate), Henry Ines (sophomore-finance and international business), Shawn Killinger (senior-marketing), Melissa Vignovic (junior-labor and industrial relations) and Mike Wendle (sophomore-chemical engineering).

If elections violations are filed by the special prosecutor Bill Shaw, then the court will hear both sides of the case. According to the Elections Code Act, violations range anywhere from premature announcement of candidacy to encouraging faculty to support or endorse a campaign.

The court must first be appointed by the USG president and have an interview with the Senate Appointments and Review Board (SARB). Then the court must be approved through USG senate.

SARB chairwoman Heather Wesley said she feels the court is very diverse.

"We have a lot of representation from other organizations outside of USG, I think they'll work really well together," she said.

Killinger agrees, she said she thinks they have a strong team to work with.

"It's something new for all of us to be involved with elections even though we're not candidates campaigning," Killinger said.

Vignovic said she feels the elections rules are just basic procedure for candidates to follow.

"We are basically the instrument of fairness and impartiality," she said.

In other senate news, senators spent an hour arguing over whether to put a certain referendum question on the election ballots. The question concerns the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

Senators voted in favor of the referendum and it will appear on the March 29 USG election ballots.