Melhor Leonor/ News Director
Following a partly inactive summer, the Student Government Council at the Modesto Maidique Campus has begun to lay down the law.
In the senate’s first session of the year, SB 1209 and SB 1210 were presented to the senators and passed unanimously without much debate.
Both SB 1209 and SB 1210 are part of a twelve bill series designated to revamp the Elections Code known as the Elections Code Reformation Act of 2012. The first item was SB 1208, an amendment that outlines the new index for the Elections Code.
SB 1209, also known as ‘The Elections Code Definitions Act of 2012’, outlines 44 new definitions added to section 6.02 of the SGC-MMC Elections Code.
Previously, the Elections Code only contained nine definitions. Among the additions are “ballot,” “beyond reasonable doubt” and “third party violations.”
According to Alex Castro, vice president of SGC-MMC, the reason for the additions is to eliminate “vagueness.” He also added that many of these definitions were compiled from other Student Government Associations across the state.
Another addition is “Political Party,” a source of debate during the 2012 elections.
“I see nothing wrong with it, so there’s nothing I would particularly change,” said William-Jose Velez, president of Coalition of Students for Reform. “That said, the issue at hand with political parties is not whether there should be, but how they will be registered.”
“Voting Booth” is another definition that will now be relevant with SB 1210.
Also known as The Elections Commission Reform Act of 2012, SB 1210 designates seven polling locations with two to five volunteers to oversee the voting process.
According to Castro, this bill also puts elections one month closer to create a longer transition period.
The next three bills of the series will be brought before the senate Monday, Sept. 17.
The proviso language for the 12-bill series specifies that these bills won’t go into effect until they are all approved by the senate.
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