SGA to amend elections policy after first amendment violation … – The Breeze

It was during the Student Government Association (SGA)s Sept. 19 Senate that senior Sen. Parker Boggs first took notice of what he considered a major First Amendment violation. His concerns came after the organization amended its election policy to require social media posts from candidates to be submitted for approval before posting, and since he raised his concerns, the SGA has made plans to revisit the amendment at a later time, said on Sept. 28.

The passage in the virtual document stipulated that, as it had been enforced in previous years, all campaign content posted to social media or otherwise must be approved by the commission before posting. Although the SGA is open to further conversation surrounding the policy, it felt the Sept. 19 meeting was neither the time nor place to discuss it.

JMU Student Government Association passed an amendment to its election process, requiring any candidate running for SGA office to share all campaign content with the election commission. Noel James has the latest on the resolution amid concerns it violates the first amendment.

The amendment applies to prospective SGA members during election season, which is required by the organizations Constitution to take place before the first week of October. Class of 2026 President Reagan Polarek said the reason this was a time-sensitive issue was that without the approval of the corrections, the entire policy would have been stalled, delaying elections by two weeks. Despite the dissent, the Senate passed the amendment with only Boggs objection, as he outlined in a letter to The Breeze.

Its not that its personal. This is about the First Amendment, Boggs said in an interview with The Breeze on Sept. 27. This is about our Constitution. This is about the school were named after, the Father of the Constitution himself. If James Madison were alive today, Im pretty sure hed see that and that clause and understand that that is a blatant violation of what he fought for so hard.

Polarek explained the necessity of the clause and the practices that take place in its effect. Polarek said prior to any SGA-related social media content being shared during elections, the candidate must first receive approval from the election committee. This was to verify information before its release to the public, she said.

I think that this policy protects SGA as a whole and potential new members in SGA from spreading misinformation, even unintentionally, Polarek said.

Polarek followed this comment with a personal anecdote of misdated content that was reviewed by the committee, which she later corrected and posted to her platforms. She stressed that the policy may be revisited in the future, but that it was both effective and imperative to this years Fall election cycle.

Our elections commissioner, Riley Gilbert, has done a great job of managing elections thus far, and I think she will continue to do that throughout the end of the election season, Polarek said. I trust her wholeheartedly.

Gilbert sent an email to The Breeze on Sept. 28 clarifying the statements purpose.

Despite the SGAs flexibility on revisiting this matter, Boggs said he believes the policy requires immediate attention. Boggs said its very existence, having flown under the radar, was an attempt at censorship rather than dispelling misinformation.

You can combat misinformation by combating it after it comes out, Boggs said. Misinformation, while it is very important that it absolutely should be addressed, that still has the right to be posted.

Boggs attributed his lack of support from other senators to a discomfort surrounding the matter.

Its a precedent that if people dont vote for the majority, that theyre going to feel like people are going to force them to be in the minority, he said.

While Boggs has no more campaigning opportunities as he graduates in May, he still intends to challenge the policy on behalf of incoming and current SGA members. In spite of this, he emphasized his trust in the elections committee but said his faith in it would improve with the removal of the policy.

The fight continues, Boggs said. Im not going to let this next election have that happen. Im going to ensure that I fight within SGA to make sure that we dont have that clause.

Ultimately, the importance of bipartisan problem-solving was stressed by both those against and in support of the amendment, and Polarek said the issue could be solved by greater student involvement.

I would encourage all those who think that its a violation of their free speech to come to Senate, voice that opinion and propose an amendment, Polarek said. We had a member of SGA do that already, and I think that will be an issue that we talk about further.

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SGA to amend elections policy after first amendment violation ... - The Breeze