Revising the Election Code

Standing as the highest student representative body, the University Student Council (USC) organizes and directs campaigns, activities and services for the welfare of its fellow students and the rest of the UP community. Central to its existence is the mandate entrusted to it by its electors, the iskolars ng bayan at para sa bayan. Truly, the institution has a rich and diverse history, a tradition of activism worth upholding until the next hundred years. However, it is equally essential to strengthen the foundation of this very institution for the benefit of the university. Not only is the current Election Code written for an election process that takes place every first semester, but several other provisions have become obsolete through time. Peculiar to the process of selecting our student body is the use of electronic voting as first observed from last March. It is in this regard that the need for the revision of the University Election Code emerged.

Before the start of the first semester, the USC created the Election Code Reform Committee (ECRC) as an ad hoc committee to perform the following tasks: organize the Students Electoral Reform Congress composed of USC members, the LCC (League of College Councils) and the party representatives, as well as coordinate with OSA (Office of Student Activities) and the OVCSA (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs); gather and collate all submitted reforms; amalgamate and lobby for proposed reforms, and efficiently disseminate pertinent information on the progress of the Congress.

A series of consultations with representatives from the three parties: ALYANSA, KAISA and STAND-UP occurred last semester. A discussion of the articles of the current Election Code, revisions submitted by last year’s USC and proposals given by the University Student Electoral Board (USEB) and University Student Electoral Tribunal (USET) led to some unity proposals. Meanwhile, conflicting proposals were left to the deliberation and discretion of the Centennial University Student Council. In accordance to the introduction of the automated elections, the University of the Philippines Linux Users Group (UnPLUG) presented the software Halalan, which was used by some colleges like Engineering, Mass Communication and Business Administration last election period. The League of College Councils (LCC) composed of all college councils in UP Diliman was also consulted for proposed revisions and amendments.

Some of the major provisions for the Election Code are as follows:

• added to Article 1, Section 4 as one of the objectives of the Code is “To institute a manner of election that shall uphold the autonomous, democratic, and representational character of the University Student Council”;
• Section 1.a of Article 3 will be repealed and will therefore allow freshmen students to run for a position in the USC;
• USC candidates under the revised Section 1.b of Article 3 must also maintain good academic standing as defined by university rules;
• each graduate school under the new Election Code will elect a graduate representative who will select amongst themselves the Graduate School Representative to the USC; and
• unlike before, the Election Code will now state a set of procedures to be followed in cases of ties.

The USC will also submit a set of proposed guidelines for the pursuance of automated elections. The committee through the Law Student Government (LSG) is now in the process of drafting the new Election Code to be presented to the three parties and is scheduled to be passed to the OVCSA and the next Board of Regents (BOR) meeting for approval.