Farmer challenges election code

Grant Farmer, an Earth and Atmospheric Science (EAS) graduate student, appealed the election code stating that he was ineligible to run for the position of graduate student body executive vice president.

Farmer graduated from the undergraduate program in December and entered the graduate program in January. While an undergraduate, Farmer served as undergraduate SGA representative for EAS. When he entered the graduate program, he switched from the Undergraduate House of Representatives (UHR) to the Graduate Student Senate (GSS).

Farmer is considered ineligible by the current election code because he has not been a graduate student for a full semester prior to the election.

"So I appealed the interpretation of the phrase 'one semester prior to the election' as being vague and that a lay person's interpretation would be that I have been a graduate student for "'one semester prior to the election,'" Farmer said.

The appeal was filed as a complaint to the Graduate Judiciary Committee (GJC) earlier this week. The defendants in the complaint were Mitch Keller, graduate student body president, and Adam Brancato, graduate internal affairs committee chair.

"I feel that the constitution and the bylaws are clear, but we will find out. The nature of the rule is to prevent people who just became graduates from running for executive positions," Brancato said.

The defense used the language of the code as well as the review and approval of the elections code during a GSS meeting. According to the complaint filed to the GJC, "Defendants further rely on the most recent review processes for the Constitution. The previous chair of the Internal Affairs Committee is prepared to testify along with Mr. Brancato, who was at the time a member of the committee, that the committee (1) discussed the language of Article VII, Paragraph B, (2) confirmed its intent was to require a graduate student to complete a full semester prior to the date of the election for President or Executive Vice President, and (3) clarified the language to ensure that this meaning was the only interpretation that could be made. The entire Constitution was then presented to the Graduate Student Senate and adopted in September 2005 via Bill 05G106. The revised Constitution was then reviewed and approved by the Student Activities Committee of the Academic Senate."

The GJC ruled against Farmer being an official candidate, but stated that he could still be a write-in candidate in the election.

"The GJC ruled that "one semester" shall be defined as it is by the registrar so therefore 15 weeks, in which case, I would not be eligible to run as an official candidate," Farmer said.

Farmer decided to test the system, because he felt he was well qualified for the job as executive vice president.

"There have been numerous complaints from organizations about how they felt they were treated by the Graduate Senate when requesting funding, and I want to bring an end to such complaints.

"I have gained experience by serving 3 terms in the legislative body at Georgia Tech and want to apply that as leader of the Senate meetings. As an undergraduate representative in the House for a year, I learned how the process works and only enhanced that experience by serving in the Senate for the past semester. I have sponsored many bills for organizations on campus and have worked with these organizations to help them through the bill process," Farmer said.

A major complaint received by Farmer is the fact that the senate only meets for an hour and takes care of its internal business before addressing the organizations requesting money. Because of this, several organizations have seen their bills be postponed and the needed money not be allocated in a timely manner.

"As Vice President I would ensure that organizations would be heard first and only after the bills have been considered would we conduct reports and the like. As issues arise, I will fight and work for graduate students and provide an open environment graduate students so they know may all participate in the SGA process," Farmer said.

Farmer has taken an active role in the GSS. During this past meeting alone, seven of the 10 bills brought before the senate were authored by Farmer. Because Farmer is not an official candidate on the ballot, the only way to vote for Farmer is to submit a write-in ballot.

"Since my name will not be on the online ballot for the election, I urge graduate students to vote for me via write in ballot. A link on the elections page will point towards an e-mail address to which students will have to send an e-mail that includes a Graduate VP vote for Grant Farmer. The e-mail must also be sent from a GT e-mail address so the voter can be verified. I look forward to the write-in process for voting and would be honored to serve as vice president of Graduate SGA," Farmer said.

The graduate elections will take place Monday through Wednesday of next week. The results of those elections will be announced Wednesday. Currently Brock Wester and Karl Yerger are running unopposed for the graduate student body president and executive vice president respectively.