Election commission combats negative campaigning

When the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. on October 2 a new Georgetown University Student Association campaign season will be inaugurated. If it’s anything like the last, it will be four days of cutthroat flyer-hanging, poster-making, hand-shaking and, perhaps, even name-calling. This year, however, GUSA and the election commission are making changes to prevent the latter from occurring once again.
As this new season of campus politics begins, some are still left with a bad taste in their mouth after last year’s outrage over debauched campaigning.
Last year’s scandal revolved around candidates allegedly using offensive, racially charged campaign tactics which were not investigated by the election commission until the complaints were made several times, causing delays and ambiguities in the judicial process.
Election commission officials are not predicting that any indignities will mar the elections this year. At information sessions for prospective candidates held last Sunday and Monday, Election Commissioner Lisa Lombardo (CAS ‘04) stressed that each poster, flyer and handout must be approved and hand-stamped in front of election officials before being posted.
“This year we’re looking for a nice, clean election,” Lombardo said.
In response to last year’s crisis, the election commission will be creating a standard form for all complaints regarding the commission and the elections themselves. Two GUSA members, Octavio Gonzalez (CAS ‘06) and Luis Torres (CAS ‘05) suggested the idea.
“The biggest problem last year was that some complaints of racism weren’t taken seriously. The method of putting in a complaint was so confusing that no one could file a complaint easily,” said sophomore GUSA representative Mariana Kihuen (CAS ‘06).
The new complaint policy is intended to remedy that concern. The form is meant to simplify the process of filing a complaint, and to let the candidates know that there is such a path should a problem arise.
The commission will decide on a case by case basis which complaints they feel warrant further investigation, according to James Shea (CAS ‘04) and Alicia Hinds (CAS ‘04), representatives of the election commission.
The information sessions for perspective candidates were well attended. Election commission officials predict that many will drop out of the race, however. For the past two years, approximately 12 students have run each time. Lombardo predicts that the number of candidates this year will be close to that number.
In the event that there are more than 15 students in the race, however, there will be a primary election, from which only the top eight contenders will advance, with an extra day of campaigning allotted before the final elections.
Voting will be held online Thursday, Oct. 2 from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. The winners will be announced at 9 p.m. in Sellinger Lounge.