ASSU Constitutional Council
Towsner vs. ASSU Elections Commission
Official Opinion

1.Summary 

The Council decided that portions of the Campaign Practices Code that were submitted for review are unconstitutional.  
These same sections were previously submitted to the Council as Case 5 in 1999.

The Council decided that the acts stemming from those declared unconstitutional were all elections in which the Campaign Practices
Code was applied. The Council then decided that these stemming acts had been done in good faith, and decided to reinstate all of
them.

2.Council Ruling 

The petitioner alleged that 3 portions of the Campaign Practices Code were unconstitutional, as they infringed
upon the right to free speech, as guaranteed in Article I, Section 3, Subsection 2 of the ASSU Constitution:

"The Association shall enact no legislation respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Association for a redress of grievances."

The following sections were brought to the Council's attention:

"Campaigning is permitted ONLY during campaign week.  Engaging in activities that constitute campaigning at any time prior to
campaign week will be considered a violation of the CPC.",

"Campaigning officially begins at 12.01 a.m. on Wednesday, April 2, 2003 and continues until 12:00am on Wednesday April 9th, 2003.  
THIS IS THE ONLY TIME DURING WHICH CANDIDATES OR SLATES ARE ALLOWED TO CAMPAIGN"

The petitioner also mentions that “It also includes many restrictions on where flyers may be posted and what kinds of e-mails
students may send.
The Council decided that the above portions of the Campaign Practices Code were a clear abridgement of free speech. As the Council
could find no compelling reason for the ASSU to impose such a restriction, the Council decided that it violated Article I, Section
3, Subsection 2 of the Constitution

Concurring: Michael Bartsch, William Curry (Chair), Sandra Liu, Robert Rudnitsky
Dissenting: None
Abstentions: None

3.Stemming Acts: Determination
The Council determined that the potential stemming acts were any election in which the CPC was applied.

4.Stemming Acts: Good Faith
The Council decided that all of the stemming acts had been done in good faith.

5.Stemming Acts: Reinstatement
The Council decided to reinstate all of the elections that had been identified as stemming acts.