Editorial

Student Association should change vice presidential selection process

As the Student Association presidential election continues, a flaw in the system has come to light: Students do not know the presidential candidates’ plans for the vice presidential position during the election.

The SA codes say a potential vice president may not run on the same ticket as a presidential candidate. The codes should be changed for future elections to make it a requirement for candidates to announce their vice presidents before voting begins.

A presidential candidate’s counterpart can make the campaign platform stronger. The vice presidential candidate’s strengths can balance out the presidential candidate’s weaknesses. Announcing a vice president before voting begins helps students determine for whom to vote.

SA has tried to define the vice president’s role more in recent administrations. Vice President Allie Curtis and Jessica Cunnington, vice president of the 55th Session, seemed to have vastly different levels of involvement in SA. A vice president who wins the position instead of being appointed would be more accountable to the student body.

By having SA presidential candidates choose their running mates beforehand, it forces them closer to how the political system in this country works. On the national level, presidential candidates campaign with their vice president. As the student government, SA should try to emulate the national process in this manner.



One deterrent to making this change is that including the vice presidential candidate in the campaign could turn SA elections into more of a popularity contest. Students could vote for a ticket solely because of the additional name recognition. But being an educated voter is important, and SA must work to continue to educate voters.

Forcing presidential candidates to announce their running mate beforehand prevents one of the other presidential candidates from becoming vice president after the race ends. But putting a dejected presidential candidate into this position might not be the best plan anyway. The president and vice president should be able to work together cohesively to carry out their individual goals.

Changing the SA codes to allow and force the presidential candidates to announce their vice presidential picks could greatly benefit the student body. It is a code change SA officials should consider before the next election.





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