Students will no longer be able to run for Young Trustee as a write-in candidate and student voters will no longer have the write-in option on the ballot.
Duke Student Government banned write-in candidates from the Young Trustee election at its meeting Wednesday. This decision to amend the Young Trustee election bylaw to bar write-ins was approved by a vote of 33-13 in the Senate. The heavily-debated decision follows Brooke Kingsland’s, Trinity ’11, write-in campaign in last year’s YT election that some believed questioned the role of the DSG Young Trustee Nominating Committee in selecting candidates. Some argued that the decision infringes upon the democratic process.
Eliminating the possibility for write-in candidates is important because otherwise there is no point to a joint selection process of YTNC selection and a student election, said President Pete Schork, a senior. In 2009, Schork co-authored the legislation to add an election to the Young Trustee selection process.
“This is not like any other election,” Schork said. “The position is recognized as such an important position, [and] there are a lot of qualities that don’t correlate to an open election. It’s important to think about this differently... there’s a reason we have a YTNC.”
The Young Trustee is selected after the YTNC selects semi-finalists and finalists from an applicant pool. The student body elects a Young Trustee from the finalist pool in an election.
Allowing write-ins in a joint selection process means the YTNC and the finalists it selects are delegitimized, said Executive Vice President Gurdane Bhutani, a junior.
“Everyone had to make it through this special, rigorous process,” Bhutani said. “If someone who didn’t make it through the YTNC can run, it isn’t fair to any of the [YTNC-selected] candidates.”
Some students, however, said that eliminating write-in candidates infringes upon the democratic process and voter choice.
“The purpose of elections is to give student the opportunity to freely choose a candidate of their choice,” said senior Ubong Akpaninyie, director of multicultural outreach and affairs. “Write-in candidates are part of the democratic process.”
Senior Ebonie Simpson, vice president for student life, said eliminating the possibility for write-in candidates may force students to select a candidate they do not support in the election.
“You [might have to] vote for a Young Trustee with three candidates that you don’t necessarily support,” Simpson said. “Not having the freedom to write in a candidate is problematic.”
Brooke Kingsland, Trinity ’11, applied for Young Trustee last year and was selected as a YT semi-finalist, but the YTNC did not select her as a finalist. She still wanted to run for Young Trustee, so she decided to begin a write-in campaign.
Although she is glad DSG is reviewing the Young Trustee selection process, Kingsland said she still has qualms about the joint selection and election process.
“The restricted election delivers a conflicted message about the role of the Young Trustee selection process and of the overall election format itself,” Kingsland said. “It leads to the question of what is the best method of selecting Young Trustee.”
Junior Alexandra Swain, vice president for Durham and regional affairs, proposed an amendment to the original bylaw, stipulating that write-in candidates would be allowed but they would not be able to participate in any DSG election commission Young Trustee events, such as debates. The amendment failed on a vote of 31-13.
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