The Associated Students of Colorado State University convened Feb. 28 for the 21st session of the 53rd senate.
Senate first heard from members of the elections committee, including Elections Committee Advisor Jason Huitt and Web Development Manager Dereck Jacobsen, who provided updates on the introduction of a ranked choice voting system ahead of the upcoming ASCSU elections.
The committee announced that a new ranked choice voting system built into RAMWeb will be utilized in the upcoming election cycle, although it will only be used in the presidential and vice presidential election. The system also excludes write-in candidates, with Elections Manager Kaitlyn Spencer citing technical issues and conflicts with the elections code as barriers to including additional candidates.
Plans for a ranked choice voting system were first made during the 52nd senate, with committee members hoping the new system will allow for greater student input in the ASCSU electoral process.
Executive reports followed, wherein President Nick DeSalvo provided updates concerning ongoing efforts to remove the U+2 residential policy through legislation in the Colorado General Assembly.
During judicial reports, Spencer and Chief Justice Alayna Truxal provided information regarding the candidate registration process for the upcoming elections.
Moving into confidence business, senate considered Bill #5317 “Amending Bill 5220.”
The legislation makes several clerical edits to Bill #5220, which provided funding from the Senate Discretionary Fund for the Temporarily Disabled Student Transportation Program.
The original legislation was designed to be reviewed annually, allowing the legislative authors to make edits to the original document through the 2027 fiscal year.
The legislative author, Chief of Staff Braxton Dietz, said he hopes continual funding for the program, which utilizes Parking and Transportation Services equipment to assist disabled students in navigating the CSU campus, will improve campus accessibility and encourage additional accessibility initiatives through ASCSU.
The bill will be sent to the legislative committees for further review.
ASCSU senate will resume March 6.
Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.