Step aside Florida 2000—The case seeking to overturn the Student Union Initiative, Elliott v. Student Elections Commission, is challenging legitimate election results for baseless reasons.
Six students stepped forward last week to challenge SUI's election campaign, citing five petitions that they argue should nullify the student vote.
Case leader and first-year UW-Madison law student Patrick Elliott said the promotion of the election was misleading and the language of the referendum made it seem binding.
The remaining three arguments attacked the particulars of legalese regarding student funding and the campaign tactics of Wisconsin Union Directorate representatives Shayna Hetzel and Rachelle Stone.
We believe the lawsuit put forward by Elliott and his five peers is ludicrous. To the petitioners, we ask: If the election publicity was misleading and unfair, why did you not generate counter-publicity to SUI before the ballots were cast?
The attempt to create a Registered Student Organization aside, a multitude of opportunities existed to communicate to the student body. It seems that savvy petitioners would have taken chalk to Bascom Hill or generated information to persuade students that SUI would arrest their capacity to govern themselves in the future.
Since none of the objections to SUI relate to the vote itself or any facets of the campaign post-passage, the question of alleged faulty advertising, potential negative effect of the vote and incorrect student perception of the vote come a little too late.
Although the petitioners maintain they are not against SUI, but merely opposed to how it is funded, their actions seem to speak otherwise.
We agree with Hetzel that the concerns brought forward by the petitioners are misplaced and vague. SUI advocates did not mislead students about the weight their vote carried.
Ultimately, Chancellor John Wiley and the Board of Regents have veto power over all non-allocable student fees. Input by students as to how these fees should be spent is merely suggestion and always subject to oversight.
The Student Labor Action Coalition said the petition against the Student Election Commission and the general confusion surrounding the SUI warrant a recall.
We feel a recall is unmerited and call the Student Judiciary panel to dismiss the arguments brought forth in the Elliott case.
