Congress Seats Not On Ballot

Vacant seats left after last Tuesday's general student body elections will be filled by a special election, which has to be called by the student body president.

"We are required to have an election every month until all the seats are filled," said Blair Sweeney, chairman of Congress' Rules and Judiciary Committee. "It's usually the same seats staying open over and over, waiting for someone to run."

Sweeney said he is not sure how many seats were open after Tuesday's elections.

Brian Fauver, vice chairman of the Board of Elections, said that although there were votes issued in each of the 22 districts, the board cannot determine which seats are filled.

Congress Speaker Mark Townsend is responsible for calling the people in the districts who received the most votes and asking them to accept the post.

He said Monday night that he had not been able to contact all the winners yet but that he hopes to speak to all of them in the next week or two.

The congressional special elections operate separately from the student body runoff elections, although Congress seats were on the ballot last Tuesday.

The only races for which students will be able to vote today will be student body president and senior class president and vice president.

"There shouldn't be any congressional seats on the ballot (today)," Sweeney said.

Last week, there were candidates on the ballot in only eight of the 22 districts with available congressional seats.

Sweeney said he is not sure when the first special election might take place.

"I don't know when (Student Body President) Justin Young is planning to do it," he said.

"He just has to send it to us as a bill, and we can vote on it."

Although Sweeney said he assumes Young would be responsible for calling the special election before he steps down and the new student body president is sworn in, last year, the first special election was held after the new student body president took office.

Young called for the election April 17 and scheduled the election for May 1.

Several subsequent special elections were held, with empty seats plaguing Congress throughout the remainder of the 2000-01 school year and the beginning of this year.

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.