Looking to elections, VSA changes rules for online campaigning

Evan Dec Guest Writer

In its last meeting of 2005, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council unanimously passed a series of amendments to the VSA Election Bylaws, the document which establishes procedures for VSA elections. These changes, recommended by the Constitutional Review Committee, were made to clarify the language of the document.

Of particular note, the Council approved the addition of several restrictions on candidates’ use of the Internet as a campaign tool.

Under the amendment to Article II, Section 4C of the Election Bylaws, “Candidates may use one worldwide webpage (no links) in their campaigns created in conjunction with the VSA webmaster and hosted on the VSA web server.”

Personal webpages, blogs and directories such as facebook.com and livejournal.com may “establish links...to his/her official election webpage, but may not have any campaign information.”

With regards to instant messaging programs, the amendment states, “profiles and away messages may advertise the position the candidate is running for and a suggestion to vote, but may not directly solicit votes for the candidate or any other candidate.”

Violation of the Election Bylaws would not necessarily result in the candidate’s instant disqualification, but action would be taken to correct the offense. An inquiry would be made as to whether the candidate intentionally broke the rules.

An updated edition of the VSA Election Bylaws will be posted on the organization’s website in the near future.

The Constitutional Review Committee worked with the Judicial Board and the Board of Elections to create the amendments. The specific rules regarding on-line campaigning had been established the year before by the co-chairs of the Board of Elections, but were added to the bylaws this year so that they might gain official authority.

The restrictions were not the product of any specific instant of aggressive on-line solicitation, but apparently were inspired by discussions that the Board of Elections had with candidates on campaign rules.

VSA Vice President and Chair of the Constitutional Review Committee Kelsey Woods ’06 explained that these additions were made “in spirit with the rest of the campaigning rules,” while adapting to “our society, [which] is constantly changing.”

When amending the Election Bylaws, Woods and the Committee sought to make the campaign process “as fair as we can for everyone.”

In terms of whether the new rules broaden the sphere of the VSA’s control, Woods said, “I don’t know if this is necessarily expanding our power.” When it comes to an individual’s private online activities, Woods admitted, “We don’t really pretend to have any power.”

The new campaign rules reflect the ever-increasing attention social websites such as facebook.com and myspace.com are receiving across the nation. Not even in its second year of activity, facebook is believed to have somewhere between six to eight million members. ABC News, the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and a vast array of other sources have written on the immense popularity of these sites.