After a year of intense criticism, next year's Board of Elections (BoE) plans to revamp election rules as well as its own constitution.
Candidates will now have more freedom to campaign during an extended campaigning period. In the past, physical campaign materials were limited to paper handouts and eight-by-11 posters.
Now, students are free to pursue more creative venues, such as breezeway banners and club e-mail lists.
"We've basically said, OK, as long as you follow University policy and don't do something other candidates can't do, go have fun," said Rick Aseltine, newly appointed BoE co-chair.
The BoE will also re-examine its own constitution for flexibility. The old constitution was overly restrictive: For instance, it mandated a specific time and date for the candidates' forum.
Student Council approved sophomore Aseltine and junior Matt Bouloubasis as BoE chairs during this week's meeting. The two were responsible for drafting the relaxed rules during the second senior class representative elections, which saw a doubled voter turnout in comparison to the first round of senior elections.
The new leadership is has been taking feedback into account and committed to change, said Aseltine.
"There was an extreme amount of desire to change on the board the past semester," said Aseltine.
Time constraints prevented change earlier this year, said Aseltine.
This year's co-chairs, Mary Keough and Judy Tomkins, brought campaign rules before the BoE the day before the group met with prospective candidates during the campaign rules meeting.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.