Submission: USAC Vacancy Constitutional Amendment deserves ‘yes’ vote

We believe that the constitution of the Undergraduate Students Association Council must be amended to pave the way for a more transparent, accountable and responsible vacancy process.

This summer, the resignation of the General Representative 2 in June and the creation of a new transfer representative position exposed logistical problems in USAC’s official procedures for filling vacancies. The USAC constitution must be reformed to anticipate changes that may arise in future councils, so that these problems may be addressed properly and efficiently.

Under the current constitution, USAC would have to hold a special election within 15 days of a vacancy. The council found itself in a situation last summer where such an election would have had to take place during summer, when there are few students enrolled and few students on campus.

In addition, the 15-day timeline creates serious logistical and technical issues. Simply put, 15 days is not long enough to find candidates, place them on the ballot and hold an election. Due to concerns over the accessibility of a summer election, USAC chose to ignore the 15-day timeline mandated by the constitution. We wish to avoid such a difficult situation in the future.

The amendment works to solve these issues. It would bar any special elections from taking place during summer or winter breaks and would clarify that the creation of a new council position, such as the creation of the transfer representative position last spring, qualifies as a vacancy. These vacancies would then need to be filled through a special election within 28 days, a much more reasonable time frame for an election.

Finally, instead of electing a new officer immediately, USAC will have the option to appoint an interim officer with a majority vote from councilmembers. The amendment would also give future councils the flexibility of leaving a position open if such a position is not immediately necessary to the functioning of the council.

The constitutional amendment being proposed is reasonable, responsible and relevant. Vote “yes” on the USAC Vacancy Constitutional Amendment.

Baral is a fourth-year human biology and society student and the USAC internal vice president. Engel is a third-year environmental science student and one of the USAC reform directors in the Internal Vice President’s office. Cocroft is a third-year political science student and serves as the other USAC reform director.