Duke Student Government will nominate a new attorney general to guide the upcoming elections, DSG President Jordan Giordano confirmed. The new attorney general will be voted on by the DSG Senate at its meeting Wednesday to serve until the end of the semester.
Sophomore Will Passo said he stepped down as attorney general for this academic year Sunday night to run for another DSG leadership position. In an e-mail to DSG members Monday, Giordano, a senior, said the organization was looking for a new attorney general to lead the election process.
"I can't be running the election if I am running in the election," Passo said. "It's a big conflict of interest."
Giordano has nominated junior Meg Foran, executive director of the Intercommunity Council and co-chair of the First-Year Advisory Council, to assume the post.
The attorney general works with the executive vice president to organize election specifics such as compiling information packets and working with the Office of Student Activities and Facilities to program election software. The two officers also work to create a budget and timeline for the annual elections.
"All Will's been doing is making sure our software is ready to go. Since we got the new software last year, we didn't even need to change anything this year," said DSG Executive Vice President Sunny Kantha, a senior. "Will has effectively done nothing consequential this year in terms of elections."
Passo said that the transition to a new attorney general mid-year should not cause election irregularities, noting that he has already worked with OSAF Program Coordinator Ryan O'Connell to prepare for the elections.
"I can't be verifying signatures of people I'm going to be running against-that'd be a big problem, so that's why I decided to step down," he said. "I would not have stepped down if I thought or Jordan told me that he wouldn't be able to find someone capable.... The cookie cutter stuff can be done by basically anyone and it doesn't take a lot of training for that."
DSG has yet to determine a timeline for the elections, Passo said, but campaigning is tentatively slated to begin in late March and election day at the beginning of April. Although this schedule is later than in past years, he said the delayed election is unrelated to the need for a new attorney general.
The shift of DSG election season is an attempt to allow candidates more time to get endorsements, Kantha said, noting that DSG was pressuring student groups to rush their endorsements last year.
Even if DSG is unable to find a person for attorney general, Giordano said he and Kantha could take on the role. He noted that in the case that an officer cannot perform his duties, the president or executive vice president must take on those responsibilities.
"I've had to spend more time on this than any other president has had to in the past," Giordano said. "At the end of the day, the election experience would not be different for any candidate. Not having an attorney general is not going to hurt any candidate."
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