As books closed Tuesday night, candidates officially finished filing for the position of Student Body Treasurer. The Student Senate passed a bill on Nov. 8 outlining the process for a special election to fill the vacancy after confirming the resignation of former Student Body Treasurer John Taylor Willis, a third-year studying business administration and international studies.
The Board of Elections Chair Anna Yarbrough, fourth-year studying applied mathematics and analytics, shared in a statement with Technician that the Senate’s jurisdiction for outlining the bill focused on defining a “fair” and “plausible” timeline, given the approach of Thanksgiving vacation and finals.
“The special election bill was passed because our former student body treasurer resigned,” Yarbrough said. “As this occurred in the middle of a semester, we had to host a special election for the position. The bill itself outlines how that election will take place and what will occur.”
Sen. Ryan Dunn, a second-year studying political science, sponsored the Treasurer Special Election Act, Senate Resolution 62, which passed Nov. 8. In drafting the bill, Dunn was mindful of a set of rules and statutes that dictate the handling of such situations in a timely manner.
“For special elections, the statutes mandate that the filing period has to be a minimum of four days, that’s why the bill had to be fast-tracked and passed last Wednesday, so books can open immediately on Thursday,” Dunn said.
According to the statutes, the special elections for student body treasurer must be held 30 days after the vacancy of a position. The tight schedule posed an issue which had to be handled quickly by the Senate.
“Statutes does require that a special election for student body treasurer shall be held 30 days after the vacation of the position, which would be Dec. 1, which is the last day of class,” Dunn said. “So, we are trying to squeeze this in time so that there is a treasurer by the end of this semester.”
Until the special election period ends, Sean Harrington, a fourth-year studying political science, will be serving as acting treasurer. For the time being, Dunn said members of Student Government and advisers are handling the situation well.
“Things are running fairly smoothly given the circumstances, however, we are trying to fill that vacancy as quickly as possible,” Dunn said. “If the bill had not been passed, it would have been done in January, the election, which would be breaking statutes and it would leave us without a treasurer for over a month, actually two months.”
Campaigning begins Thursday and it will last for a period of four days. The general election will be held Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. online and the results will be posted at 9 p.m. the same night. Students will be able to vote via cellphones, tablets or laptops.
“There will be no physical polling locations,” Dunn said. “Typically in spring elections and during fall elections, there’s usually at least one physical polling location in Wolf Plaza or elsewhere where people can go up and vote, but in the essence of time and to save the Board of Elections some extra planning, all of it will be completely digital.”
Molly Mueller, a third-year studying political science and international studies, and Adam Skrzecz, a third-year studying political science and history, submitted their Intent-to-Run Forms and were confirmed as eligible by the Board of Elections.
Yarbrough encourages students to take part in the special elections by getting to know the candidates’ platforms and voting.
“While it is sad to see a fellow Student Government member resign, I think that every student at NC State should make the best of the situation by becoming informed about their candidates and voting in this election,” Yarbrough said. “The entirety of the student body can vote.”
More information about the special election for the position Student Body Treasurer can be found on the NC State Board of Election’s website.
