On Tuesday, freshly-inaugurated Associated Student Body President Austin Powell has vetoed a ticketing bill aimed at diversifying student leadership that passed through the senate 26-1-1.
The bill’s proposed system would have allowed two candidates to run on optional ticket for the positions of Mr. Ole Miss and Miss Ole Miss during the General Election as well as ASB officers during the Spring General Election.
Although Powell killed the bill, he said he is still adamant that positive changes should be made in ASB election processes and overall governance.
Powell said he thinks any major changes should begin with plenty of research and student opinions. He released a statement earlier in the week regarding his decision to veto.
“By doing more thorough research, it will be evident in the way the bill is written that it is taking into account the student voice that would be heard from open forums and sessions about what a fair election process would potentially look like,” Powell said. “If a similar bill came to before the senate floor, I would highly encourage that the language and points in the bill have substantive research on what actual Ole Miss students are saying in regards to the needs of our campus. I would also encourage other senators to not only research a ticket system bill, but also maybe look into how other SEC campuses host elections.”
Former ASB President Rod Bridges said he disagreed with the decision to veto the bill.
“I’m pretty disappointed, honestly,” Bridges said. “This bill wasn’t meant to be a catch-all for the underlying problems in our elections process, but it was to be an intentional step forward in encouraging students from more backgrounds to participate in elections.”
The bill was praised for encouraging collaborative campaigning for students who were not as financially resourceful as others, but some were worried it could result in less diversity, such as gridlock between platforms.
“I wouldn’t have presented a rushed, thoughtless piece of legislation,” Bridges said. “I know that this would have had huge potential to positively impact our process.”
Regardless of his disappointment in the veto, Bridges said he respects Powell’s decision to veto the bill.
Powell said a similar bill could look completely different, but address the same issue. He affirmed there are other options that could potentially achieve the same goals.
“It could look like ASB setting a portion of its internal budget to cover campaign costs for those who aren’t financially able, or looking into changing the entire elections process that addresses these issues with more student input,” Powell said.
