One candidate in the upcoming Associated Students of Madison elections is not enrolled in the college whose seat he is vying for.
Ajit Iyer, a senior in the University of Wisconsin College of Letters and Sciences, is running for the Law School seat on Student Council this election.
Iyer has been admitted to the Law School and will be entering the school in fall 2010, Student Election Commission Chair Noah Pearce said.
Pearce has already allowed Iyer to run as a candidate for the Law School.
There is one seat available for a Law School representative on Student Council, and there would be three students running for it, including Iyer.
However, a 2005 SJ case set forth a rule for future elections that a candidate must be enrolled in the school they are hoping to represent when they turn in their candidate application. The applications were due March 21.
“It seemed counter-productive for someone to win an L&S seat only to become a law student the next fall. During his term Ajit would not be enrolled in the school he was representing. We lacked convincing arguments against accommodating him,” Pearce said in a message. Pearce also stated that SJ and SEC are not bound by precedent.
According to the 2005 SJ case, students who run for a position in ASM are identified by student ID numbers through the Office of the Registrar, which identify the school students are enrolled in at the time. Students cannot represent a different school.
“I believe the current system — which uses the Registrar’s records to dictate eligibility — is merely a convenience,” Pearce said.
Pearce said he would investigate further into the current system’s use of the Registrar’s records.
He said he could see how Iyer’s position in running for a Law School seat on ASM may seem like a strategic electoral move, but he said that is not the case. Iyer’s motives, according to Pearce, are to serve the school he will be enrolled in on ASM.
Pearce said this is part of a larger flaw in the ASM election process, which puts graduating seniors who are accepted into their respective graduate schools at a disadvantage.
