Spring Break
Transparency needed, delivered to OSU students
Chris Van Drimmelen
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Forum
When I read the Wednesday, April 29 article titled "ASOSU: We Want Transparency," I couldn't have been more pleased to see a demand for transparent practices from students. It is my firm opinion that the students should demand transparency from their student government at all times. Kevin and I tried to run the most transparent campaign for office possible, revealing our budget, financial supporters, names of volunteers, etc.
That being said, it is disheartening to me that information is being kept from the Barometer. Since the elections guidelines specifically state that candidates must be notified of violations against them, I do have some of the information that the students are seeking. While Kevin and I were not notified of any minor violations that were filed but not assessed, nor any minor violations that may or may not have been assessed to any of our opponents, I do possess the information regarding the four minor violations that were finally assessed to us. Ask and you shall receive, because I am more than willing to tell the students what these minor violations were.
To preface this, I'm going to give a short run-down of how the election violation system works. There are two types of elections violations: minor and major. Major offenses are just that, very serious breaches of elections protocols such as a candidate providing students with the means to vote. Candidates may be disqualified for major offenses, and I just want to stress that Kevin and I were not assessed any major violations. Minor violations are smaller breaches that are not specifically listed in the elections rules as major violations.
Our first minor violation occurred when a student wore one of our buttons into the ASOSU Office. The elections rules state that no campaigning may be done in the ASOSU Office. The student in question was not a campaign affiliate, simply a supporter, but we were still assessed a violation.
The second and third minor violations occurred on Facebook. The elections rules state that the elections website must appear on all campaign materials, and two messages were sent from our Facebook group where the senders forgot to append the website.
That being said, it is disheartening to me that information is being kept from the Barometer. Since the elections guidelines specifically state that candidates must be notified of violations against them, I do have some of the information that the students are seeking. While Kevin and I were not notified of any minor violations that were filed but not assessed, nor any minor violations that may or may not have been assessed to any of our opponents, I do possess the information regarding the four minor violations that were finally assessed to us. Ask and you shall receive, because I am more than willing to tell the students what these minor violations were.
To preface this, I'm going to give a short run-down of how the election violation system works. There are two types of elections violations: minor and major. Major offenses are just that, very serious breaches of elections protocols such as a candidate providing students with the means to vote. Candidates may be disqualified for major offenses, and I just want to stress that Kevin and I were not assessed any major violations. Minor violations are smaller breaches that are not specifically listed in the elections rules as major violations.
Our first minor violation occurred when a student wore one of our buttons into the ASOSU Office. The elections rules state that no campaigning may be done in the ASOSU Office. The student in question was not a campaign affiliate, simply a supporter, but we were still assessed a violation.
The second and third minor violations occurred on Facebook. The elections rules state that the elections website must appear on all campaign materials, and two messages were sent from our Facebook group where the senders forgot to append the website.
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