The Missouri Students Association has a problem with following rules.
Whether it be out of laziness, self-protection or unwillingness to hurt feelings, this year the Missouri Students Association and the Board of Elections Commissioners, an independent entity responsible for running MSA elections, have equivocated, ignored, bent and danced around their own bylaws.
They have found mind-boggling technicalities. They have swept violations under the table. Taken in sum, we feel these actions have helped delegitimize the BEC and the MSA election it is currently running, and as a result, MSA itself as the representative body of MU students.
No one is stepping up to fix these institutional flaws and shortcomings. No one within MSA is standing up to the leaders who would rather change the rules than have to enforce them.
The current MSA elections have provided seemingly no end to the frustration. Much of it can be attributed to David Wettroth, the BEC chairman. Wettroth was elected to this position despite being responsible for campaign-disclosure failures that led to the punishment and near-disqualification of the Spencer Maass-Shelby Catalano presidential slate, for which he was campaign manager, in 2012.
The problem is not that Wettroth, or anyone in MSA or BEC for that matter, is corrupt or unethical. It’s simply that, for whatever reason, his term as chairman has been riddled with shortcomings and refusals to enforce the rules he has been tasked with enforcing.
In late August, Wettroth appointed Shelby Catalano, MSA Budget Committee chairwoman (and former presidential candidate whose slate Wettroth managed) to one of two BEC vice-chairmen positions, in clear violation of a rule prohibiting the simultaneous occupation of multiple offices. MSA leaders, [with the blessing of MSA Chief Justice Bailey Otto](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/9/6/loophole-exposed-msa-bylaws/), mustered up a ridiculous excuse to fit Catalano through the loophole — she could serve in both positions because only one was a “paid position/physical office.” Sen. Benjamin Bolin then [pushed through legislation amending the bylaws](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/10/11/msa-operations-committee-clarifies-ambiguous-bylaw/).
Last week, the MSA presidential slate of Mason Schara and Kelsey Haberberger [were named in a mass email](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/10/31/msa-slate-exchanges-social-media-buzz-philanthropy/) sent to MU sorority leaders, offering a philanthropy donation to the sorority whose members tweeted about their campaign the most. Beyond ethical concerns about such a contest, unauthorized mass emails are not permitted under BEC rules. Wettroth determined that as Kelci Dampf, the sender of the email, was merely a friend of the campaign and not an “official campaign worker,” and claiming she sent the email without the knowledge of Schara-Haberberger, [he would not issue an infraction to the campaign](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/11/1/schara-haberbeger-suspend-greek-chapter-twitter-co/). (The slate, however, admitted being responsible for the contest, which it later suspended.)
On Saturday, a complaint was filed with the BEC alleging Schara-Haberberger had violated another BEC rule by using The Craft Studio, an MSA auxiliary, to produce campaign buttons. A rule prohibits campaigns from using MSA auxiliaries for campaign purposes. Wettroth said that, in consultation with the BEC vice chairmen, he decided the rule was unnecessary and detrimental. No infraction was issued to Schara-Haberberger, and he updated the BEC handbook to change the rule (it now only prohibits auxiliaries from endorsing any slate).
On Tuesday, we learned Wettroth had kept candidates’ initial petitions (which must contain 500 valid signatures to earn a slate a spot on the ballot) for nearly 21 days before submitting for validation, at which point it was discovered the presidential slate of Taylor Major and Dan Paterson had many invalid signatures. After 48 hours, in which Major-Paterson failed to provide the requisite replacement signatures, they were removed from the ballot.
Candidates’ signature petitions were submitted to Wettroth on Oct. 10; he did not provide them to the Registrar’s Office to be verified until Oct. 31. In a text message, Wettroth attributed the delay to having “midterms and other things happening” and that he had been “having some trouble finding” the Registrar’s Office contact to which he needed to submit the petitions.
The Registrar’s Office, as most students are aware, is on the first floor of Jesse Hall. There is a massive sign above the door identifying it.
During the 21 days Wettroth was keeping the signatures, Major and Paterson campaigned, published a website, held a rally in the MU Student Center and participated in the Oct. 29 MSA debate.
The Maneater requested campaign finance documents from Wettroth on Friday, and he refused to provide them until Monday, claiming he was out of town for the weekend. Numerous social media posts he made over the weekend were geolocated in Columbia.
Campaign buttons, invalid signatures and weekend trips are, in the big picture, not particularly important. We are primarily concerned, though, with the dismissive, indecisive manner in which the BEC has led this campaign season, and the page Wettroth has ripped from MSA’s book to change rules instead of enforcing them. Wettroth is paid $400 for his term as BEC chairman. He has not demonstrated to us that he takes this position — and the salary comprised of students’ fees — seriously.
We understand it’s a busy time in the semester. But failing to perform basic tasks, such as delivering signatures to Jesse Hall and altering bylaws to avoid having to issue infractions is unacceptable. The BEC is the entity that holds MSA elections and candidates accountable. How much further should the integrity of MSA elections be eroded before someone is appointed to hold the BEC accountable?
If Wettroth cannot carry out his office in a competent, fair and transparent manner, perhaps he should give the position up to someone who can.
