SB Attorney General Rob Pillow presents the student election bill to the ASB Senate Nov. 12.
Photo by Phillip Waller I The Daily Mississippian
The Associated Student Body Judicial Council met last night for a hearing on a complaint filed against the ASB Consitution and Codes.
Senator James Parrett, chair of the Governmental Operations Committee, filed a complaint regarding the use of the term “present and voting” in ASB Campus Senate Rules and ASB Code. The complaint stated that the ASB senators had taken it upon themselves to determine the meaning of the phrase. Parrett noted that this had been done at least twice.
The most recent time the senate determined the meaning of the phrase was on Nov. 12. Pillow presented a bill he authored that would change the way student election campaigns are held on campus. Twenty-five senators voted in favor of the bill, 19 voted against the bill and 9 senators abstained.
Parrett said he filed the complaint because “present and voting” was confusing as it didn’t clarify how the abstention votes would be counted.
“There was some confusion as to how we count votes in the senate. We were looking to clarify this,” Parrett said. “We believe we had a clear reading of it, but we weren’t following that reading, so it was necessary for us to get a determination of what the Code actually means so there is no question in the future.”
The bill failed on Nov. 12 because it was decided that there were not enough votes either way to make a strong majority.
Pillow thought the meaning of “present and voting” should be addressed in order to prevent any confusion in the future.
“It has caused a lot of problems in the past,” Pillow said. “Some of the bills that have come forth have failed including this one that did not have a majority.”
The Judicial Council ruled that abstention votes should not count as a vote of affirmation or negation.
Since the judicial council has clarified how an abstention vote should be counted, Pillow hopes to represent the bill at the tonight’s ASB Senate meeting.
“I want this to go into effect for the next elections. If this isn’t passed (Tuesday night), I’m not going to implement if it’s passed next semester because that wouldn’t give the candidates enough time to plan and prepare.”
-Allison Slusher
ajslushe@go.olemiss.edu
