Koelsch resigns government position
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
News Writer
Emily Koelsch resigned her post as Board of Governance women's commissioner Tuesday after a week-long controversy surrounding election procedure, stating that she had "lost confidence and respect" for several members of the Board of Governance.
"I think this has been a really difficult three weeks," Koelsch said, holding back tears. "It has become apparent to me that my input is no longer necessary to the government at Saint Mary's. I believe in fostering fair competition among women. I resign my position as Women's Issues Coordinator and I wish the Student Government the best."
Koelsch and running mate Rachele Rodarte had been announced as the winners of the presidential election Friday evening after an unprecedented tie and subsequent revote. The revote, authorized by director of student activities Georgeanna Rosenbush, was nullified early Monday after a complaint filed by Crissie Renner. Renner's complaint claimed that proper voting procedures were not followed in the election, as the elections committee should have been consulted for the final decision in the event of a tie.
The Koelsch/Rodarte ticket filed an appeal on Monday afternoon, stating that the Renner complaint was not filed in a timely manner and did not take the opinion of the student body into consideration. The appeals committee rejected the appeal, stating that the decision by the elections committee was final.
Much of the debate centered on the fact that the Election Committee, after reviewing Renner's complaint and Koelsch's subsequent appeal, chose to use the results of the Monday, Jan. 31 primary election to determine the winners of the election, and did not demand a revote.
While Board of Governance entertained discussion from members of the student body in attendance at the meeting, student body president Nancy Midden made it clear at the onset of the discussion that the decision of the appeals committee was final.
"The decisions that have been made are final," Midden said. "The elections committee has made a fair, just and impartial decision. They mentally placed themselves where they should have been on Wednesday night."
Several students voiced concern over the decision to combine the raw votes from Monday and Wednesday's election, claiming it ignored 20 percent of the student body's votes.
"What I'm concerned about was that there were four tickets [in the initial primary election] that 20 percent of the votes went into," Leatherman said. "The Missy Bittner/Molly Banahan and Jill Koepke/Desiree Hollis tickets obviously voted for themselves, and their voice is not being heard."
These two tickets and their supporters had a chance to reevaluate their choices.
"Because I voted for myself on Monday [Jan. 31], and then voted for ticket B on Wednesday, in the final consideration, I only had one vote," Banahan said. "If Susie down the hall voted for ticket A on both days, she had two votes."
Midden and representatives from the elections committee said they had made the best decision they could under the circumstances, and that they did refer to the student government constitution.
"In the event of a tie you go with the number of raw votes from the initial primary election," Midden said. "The only time a revote is to occur is if improper voting procedures were followed, such as ballot stuffing."
In Saint Mary's student constitution, there are no stipulations listed that detail proper procedure in the event of a tie vote. The only election procedures covered by the constitution are the formation of tickets, campaigning policies, balloting and voting procedures, counting ballots and revoting procedures.
The constitution states that a revote is allowed only if "improper voting procedures are followed," or if a candidate submits a petition with 200 signatures of eligible voters within 48 hours of the election calling attention to such violations.
"Our decision was that Friday's election was null and void," alumnae commissioner and Election Appeals Board member Erin Hall said. "We looked at the procedures and we took that bylaw and nullified Friday's election."
The committee did take into account that its decision would set a precedent for future elections, Midden said. Referring to the constitution as an "ever-changing, flexible document," members said that the election procedures are currently under assessment by the board.
Amendments to Saint Mary's student government constitution will be prepared and presented at next week's Board of Governance meeting to provide definite guidelines in the case of future ties in student government elections.
"At the next meeting, they will have the amendments," interim elections commissioner Bridget Heffernan said. "The current BOG is revising and voting [on amendments]."
"I would like to suggest to BOG that when you are considering rewriting the bylaws, to maybe get people involved [who are outside BOG]," junior class treasurer Alyson Leatherman said. "It is very important that [the constitution] meets the needs of everyone. Maybe that would be a way for the students to feel that their voice is being heard."
"[The constitution] may be interpreted differently," said Georgeanna Rosenbush, student government advisor. "We go by what the Board says. If you don't like it, you can change it."
Several members of the student body expressed discontent that the issue could not be resolved immediately, stating that the decision the committee made would be felt for the following year.
Midden remained firm on the committee's decision, stating again that it was final and could not change, because the decision was rooted in the constitution's bylaws.
"Our credibility stands in following the constitution," Midden said. "[Changing] it would undermine our credibility."
"Everyone in this room has lost credibility," said Student Academic Council representative Carolyn Kelley.
Midden asserted that the election controversy affirmed her confidence in the abilities of the members of board of governance and her faith in the constitution.
"Both tickets are highly qualified and exemplify the best of Saint Mary's," Midden said. "Events unfolded such that the constitution was our framework. We are all members of the same student body. There is no one to blame. It is imperative that we have faith in and support the decisions of the current student government."
All News Stories for Wednesday, February 9, 2000
