Student Court to Hear Argument on Aswani's Veto Override

The Student Court will convene tonight at 10:30pm for a hearing on the override of SA President Vishal Aswani after the validity of the vote was questioned by Jordan Chapman, Aswani's vice president for judicial and legislative affairs.

The vote concerns Sen. Logan Dobson's (CCAS-U) bill which proposes the elimination of a signature requirement for those wanting to run for a SA position.  Last Thursday, the Senate passed the bill by a super-majority.  Aswani vetoed the legislation because he feels that students should have to collect signatures to prove they are servious about working for students.  The Senate overturned Aswani's veto on Tuesday, but early this morning Chapman filed a complaint with the student court.  The complaint comes from what Chapman sees as not enough students present to override the veto.

The Hatchet reports that 18 senators were eligible to vote at Tuesday's meeting. Of those 18, five abstained, bringing the total number of voting Senators to 13. Of those 13, nine voted to overturn Aswani’s veto, garnering a two-thirds majority. The decision to accept this two-thirds majority was made by Executive Vice President, Kyle Boyer, and Alex Fitzsimmons, the SA’s secretary.

In the end, if the Senate's override stands, students wishing to run for office will not have to collect signatures in order to be placed on the ballot.  If it is ruled unconstitutional, students will have to collect signatures from 1 percent of the student body just as they have in past elections.

The Student Court also can extend registration period to apply for candidacy of a student association position if the latter decision is made.

Aswani said in an emailed statement this afternoon, "This suit was not filed with any malcontent toward the SA Senate and it's membership nor was it filed with any malcontent by any member of the executive to the Executive Vice-President or his staff, but in order to ensure a fair election. I commend Jordan for his service to the Student Association and (more importantly) to the Student Body. Additionally, I commend him for working with all the parties involved to ensure, more than anything else, that the election process will be as minimally interrupted as possible."

- Mallory Thompson