The early stages of this year’s student elections have proven the effectiveness of increased signature requirements.
By asking student body president candidates to collect more signatures, new regulations have helped narrow the field early on and make the process more efficient.
Student Congress should increase the signature requirement further to 1,500 to ensure an even leaner field of candidates in future years.
This is not to say accessibility should be compromised. Thanks to the Board of Elections’ decision to allow candidates to collect signatures online, the number is still well within the reach of devoted, organized candidates.
At a university of 18,000 undergraduate students, it is more than realistic to expect candidates to gather 1,250 signatures, especially if they fully utilize social media. But most of this year’s candidates failed to take advantage of this new option for collecting signatures.
Many of the candidates who didn’t qualify this year freely admit they did not possess the organizations to collect that many signatures. If candidates cannot mobilize a campaign staff to collect 1,250 signatures, how would they fare in the general election? How effectively would they manage a cabinet?
Increasing the required number of signatures to 1,250 and allowing students to use their ONYENs to virtually sign a candidate’s petition are important steps, but a further increase is still merited.
Every candidate on the ballot is allotted $250 of student fees for campaign expenses. And in the event of a runoff, the two candidates receive an additional $85.
Students tire quickly of the campaign season, and the candidates themselves deserve a speedy outcome. Raising the signature requirement is an easy way to effect this.
