The Student Association Senate amended the Joint Elections Committee charter Tuesday night allowing JEC members to file violations against election candidates and banning unsolicited campaign communications, two issues causing controversy for the Senate.

Last Wednesday, the JEC – the independent body that oversees the SA, Program Board, Class Council and Marvin Center Governing Board elections – filed suit against SA President Jason Lifton for signing the charter, which they said was contradictory and unenforceable.

The following day, Program Board Chair Wesley Callahan sent an e-mail denouncing the charter, disagreeing with the JEC’s inability to file election violations and the provision that all unsolicited electronic campaign material may only be sent by candidates themselves, charging that it would result in unnecessary spam in students’ inboxes.

At the meeting – a special session called by Lifton – the Senate focused solely on amending the charter so that all four organizations could accept it and not risk delaying the election.

After much debate and examination of the rules of quorum, the Senate granted the JEC the ability to file violations against election candidates in a 15-2 vote, with Sens. John Bennett, ESIA-U, and Cory Grever, SoB-U, abstaining. Sens. Charlie Rybak, U-At Large, and Dylan Pyne, CCAS-U, objected to the amendment.

“It’s about making it easier for people who don’t care,” Lifton said. “By signing up to be a candidate you are accepting a higher burden.  At the end of the day, follow the rules and you will not get violations.”

If the Senate did not pass the amendment changes Program Board requested, the charter would be taken to the Student Court for approval, Lifton said.

“I think we got our point across to the JEC that we are displeased with the way [they have filed violations] in the past,” Rules Committee Chair and newly-announced executive vice president candidate Amanda Galonek, CCAS-U said.  “They understand where we were coming from.”

The Senate also approved the amendment prohibiting unsolicited e-mail communications in a 15-2 vote.  Candidates are now allowed to send e-mails over listservs of organizations they belong to, but will not be allowed to send e-mails to personal e-mail addresses.

“The point of this is just not to annoy people,” Lifton said.

The Student Association elections will be held March 9 and 10.