Petitioners encourage Elections Commission to improve rank choice voting in future elections
(Screenshot: ANNA WANG/The Stanford Daily)
on May 10, 2021
The Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) Constitutional Council voted 4-1 on Monday to accept a case disputing the constitutionality of the 2021 sophomore class presidential election, with a hearing scheduled for the following week. The decision came after a debate on whether the case in question, Sophomore Class President Slate Coalition v. Elections Commission, falls under the Council’s jurisdiction.
The petitioners, a coalition of three out of four sophomore class presidential slates that ran in the April election, requested that the Council hold the Commission responsible for improving rank-choice voting procedures in future elections. The petition argues that the lack of an “abstain” option and the failure to include candidates’ names next to their slate in the 2021 election violated the ASSU Joint Bylaws