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RESOLUTION R-73

THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

20TH

SENATE 2015-2016

Authored By: Reid Ruggles

Sponsored By: Evan Ogden, Landon Nichols

A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ELECTIONS BOARD FOR CHANGES TO

CAMPAIGN REGULATIONS REGARDING THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLYERS

Be it resolved by the Senate of the Student Government Association assembled,

WHEREAS, The purpose of the Student Government Association of The University of Alabama

is to serve the common interest of students, to guarantee a student voice in University decisions,

to train ourselves in democratic government and promote citizenship on campus, and to preserve

and defend the rights and privileges of student self-governance,

WHEREAS, The Elections Board is an entity created by Article VIII of the SGA Constitution to

oversee all student elections and may make rules and regulations as it sees fit to govern said

elections, which are then compiled into the Elections Manual, as mandated by Article VIII,

Section 1, Subsection D,

WHEREAS, The primary purpose of the Student Government Election Manual of The

University of Alabama is to provide guidelines to ensure honest, fair, open elections for all who

are involved [emphasis added]. In upholding its responsibility to the Student Body, the Election

Board will endeavor to hold candidates to the highest level of accountability for their actions oractions on their behalf. [taken directly from the Preamble section of the Elections Manual],

WHEREAS, The changes to the Elections Manual were explained recently in an email sent by

Student Chair Keeli Mallory: If you want to pass out flyers on campus, you must register your

"event" through the Source. In order to pass out flyers on campus you must have some sort of

table with the flyers or campaign material on them and students will be able to voluntarily

approach to find out more information. You are not allowed to just hand out flyers without

registering your location and time with the Source..,

WHEREAS, The preceeding information or any derivative of it has not been compiled into anupdated Elections Manual and cannot be found anywhere on the vote.ua.edu website,

WHEREAS, In order to register an event through the Source, a candidate must fill out a

Grounds Use Permit, and in order to fill out a Grounds Use Permit, a candidate or representative

of said candidate must participate in a SOURCE training session, which take place once every

two weeks, with the next training session occurring on February 23rd,

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WHEREAS, Potential candidates are not given equitable access to tables for use in these

mandated campaign events, especially if said candidate is not active in a large SOURCE

registered organization with access to event tables,

WHEREAS, Considering the number of candidates running for office, the space available for

tables in high-traffic areas will be limited and could cause problems with traffic flow and the

ability of candidates to reach potential voters,

WHEREAS, The moratorium on handing flyers to students outside of SOURCE registered

events prevents candidates from engaging and interacting with the entire student body in order to

spread awareness about both campaigns and the Student Government Association as a whole,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT, the Student Government Association Senate

assembled finds the stated campaign regulations burdensome to potential candidates,

contradictory in regards to the stated purpose of the elections manual and elections board,

limiting to honest, fair, and open elections, biased against students who are not active in large

SOURCE organizations, in violation of Article VIII, Section 1, Subsection D of the Student

Government Association Constitution, and should be repealed from the Elections Manual with

all deliberate speed,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT, the Student Government Association Senate

assembled requests the Student Judicial Board review the stated campaign regulations by the

powers vested in the student body and Student Government Association Senate in accordance

with Article VIII, Section 1, Subsection D, Subsection 2 and Subsection 3 of the StudentGovernment Association Constitution,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT:copies of this resolution be sent to the following: Dr.

Stuart Bell, University of Alabama President; Dr. David Grady, University of Alabama Vice

President for Student Affairs; Dr. Tim Hebson, University of Alabama Dean of Students; Elliot

Spillers, Student Government Association President; Kelli Knox-Hall, Elections Board Advisor;

Keeli Mallory, Elections Board Student Chair; Akeisha Young, Chief Justice of the Student

Judicial Board; Sean Landry, The Crimson WhiteEditor-in-Chief; Jordan LaPorta, WVUA-FM

News Director; and TJ Parks, The Crimson White SGA Correspondent; and others as may be

deemed necessary at a later date.