ASUC Elections 2007
Bill Seeks More Defined Terms of Office for Executives

With memories of last year’s elections on their minds, the ASUC Senate will receive a bill tonight that proposes a constitutional amendment which, if approved by the student body and the senate, would more clearly define the executive officials’ terms of office.

The bill, which was authored by CalSERVE Senator Taylor Allbright, would also include a bylaw amendment to create a line of succession for the ASUC presidency in case of an emergency.

The constitutional amendment portion of the bill would define the executive term of office as beginning on the first day of regular summer session or when election results are certified by the Judicial Council, depending on which happens

later.

“Their term of office shall end when their successor’s term begins,” the proposed amendment states.

The amendment, sponsors say, will clearly define who holds executive power at any given time. The previous constitutional article only defined the term as “one year.”

“The ASUC can’t exist without an executive,” Allbright said. “It’s like a chicken without a head.”

The bylaw designating the line of succession extends from the executive officers to the chairs of the three main senate committees—finance, constitutional review, and external affairs—down to the finance officer.

Currently, the line of succession only extends through the executive vice president.

“There was no line of succession when the president and the (executive vice president) graduates,” Allbright said.

The bill was written in response to events last summer that included the disqualification of the Student Action executive slate, leaving the ASUC without clearly defined executive leadership for a brief period.

On June 14 last year, the newly elected executives were disqualified. The former president and executive vice president were graduating, leaving the ASUC without a clear executive board.

Student Action Senator Jeff Manassero, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said that educating the student body on the need for an amendment would be the most difficult task facing the sponsors.

“It’s a large undertaking because it has to go to the whole student body,” Manassero said. “It will take publicity to get the voters educated.”

The bill will require a two-thirds majority of the senate. If the bill is passed there, the constitutional amendment would face a student vote in the form of a referendum later this spring.

Sixty percent of the student body must cast a vote for or against the amendment, with 50 percent of voters approving the referendum before it can take effect.

Some senators said the aim of the bill was to simplify the process for future senates.

“We just want to add some clarity for the next generation of senators,” said Berkeley College Republicans Senator Victoria Mitchell, who co-sponsored the bill.

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