In the final Duke Student Government Senate meeting for the 2014-15 academic year, a new election bylaw was passed and next year’s executive board was sworn in.
The new election bylaw, introduced by John Guarco, the incoming executive vice president, and associate justice Nikolai Doytchinov, abolishes the DSG Board of Elections and gives all power to the attorney general. Guarco, a sophomore, said that this change will increase the functionality of DSG elections in the future.
“It hands over responsibilities to the attorney general to avoid any discrepancies and make the elections easier and more efficient, particularly in comparison to previous years,” Guarco said.
The new bylaw transfers some of the Board of Elections' powers to the Senate, which will annually pass election rules and procedures that govern election details like voting dates, expenditure limits and campaign rules.
Additionally, campaign violations will now be reported to the attorney general, who will issue punishments to violators, unless violators request that a panel of three DSG justices hear the case.
At the end of the meeting, the Executive Board of the 2015-16 academic year was sworn in by Associate Justice Dana Raphael, a sophomore. Next year’s board will be led by President Keizra Mecklai, a rising senior, and Guarco. They will replace outgoing President Lavanya Sunder and Executive Vice President Abhi Sanka, both juniors.
Guarco said he is ready to assist the 2015-16 Senate in achieving its goals.
“I look forward to helping each and every senator accomplish their legislative goals by providing advice wherever I can to maintain the high standards of excellence we’ve had this year,” Guarco said.
In other business:
Changes to a judiciary bylaw introduced by Guarco and Doytchinov were voted down. The changes would have made it easier for previous justices to retain their seats and would have also introduced a “right to notification” clause, which would inform students and student groups of their right to legal help in cases in which student rights are violated.
Additionally, changes to the Student Organization Funding bylaw were voted down. The changes would have allowed a Senate member to lead the Financial Oversight and Appeals Committee if the executive vice president decided not to take the chair position, as is currently mandated in the bylaw. The chief argument against the change was to maintain balance on the FOAC board, which is currently made up of four members of the executive branch and four members of the Senate branch.
Raphael also swore in the 2015-16 presidential cabinet and the at-large Board of Trustees representatives.
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