By Maggie Cassidy

In its first meeting since the Student Government Association (SGA) abolished the Rules Committee last spring, the Senate Nominations and Elections Committee (SNEC) met last night to begin planning SGA’s upcoming presidential election season.

SNEC traditionally oversaw SGA’s presidential elections until direct elections were instated in spring 2007. At that time, SGA created the Rules Committee to oversee the direct election process.

However, SGA voted to bring SNEC back after last year’s tumultuous election season, in which the voting period was twice extended due to dismal voter turnout.

During that time, one candidate dropped out mid-race, another was almost blocked from running and then-Parliamentarian Grant Oberg abruptly resigned from his post amid the turmoil.

Eventual winner and current SGA President Rob Ranley also faced minor grievances for dorm storming during his campaign.

Current Parliamentarian and SNEC Chair Chris Bourne said some of last year’s ‘inner committee turmoil’ could be attributed to bias toward candidates ‘infiltrating’ the Rules Committee.

‘I think the other issue was the committee was so focused on the rules and the process rather than the overall goal,’ said Bourne, who directed the meeting relatively informally, opting not to use Robert’s Rules of Order as SGA and Rules Committee traditionally do. ‘They’re not there to punish people and just be by the book, they’re there to oversee the election and make sure the student body can choose the next student body president.’

SGA Vice President for Administration and Public Relations Emma Brancaccio said the Administration and Public Relations Committee is working this year to make sure students are aware of elections after that group and the Rules Committee juggled the responsibility last year, ultimately dropping the ball.

‘I think neither [the Administration and Public Relations Committee or the Rules Committee] really thought of the PR ahead of time,’ she said, ‘and then it came time and there was no communication, so they sort of thought the other one was taking care of it.’

In an attempt to build hype for elections, SNEC will for the first time withhold the name of the winning candidate – even from the candidates themselves – until it is announced to the student body at-large. The committee also has preliminary plans to give the voting season a theme.

Furthermore, in an attempt to clarify the Direct Elections Manual, which was revamped in December 2008 in response to last year’s election problems, and put it into ‘layman’s terms,’ the committee will design a ‘how-to’ manual for candidates full of tips and cautions, Bourne said during the meeting.

SGA presidential candidate nominations will be held March 9.