This story was updated on October 10.
The 68th Senate of the Associated Students at New Mexico State University convened in an emergency meeting on Zoom on Sept. 13, 2024, to discuss the election packet for the upcoming election year, named as resolution seven. One of the hot topics was the idea of banning campaigning for student elections in Corbett Center Student Union.
Chair Aya Al-Sheikh argued against banning Corbett Center, where she cited that during her campaign, she utilized Corbett Center the most.
“I just feel like harassing is not the right word to use when you are campaigning as well as educating people,” Al-Sheikh added.
On the opposing side, Senator Rahaf Ben-Ali took the opportunity to explain her stance on this issue, where she explained her support for banning campaigning in Corbett Center. She cited the ‘harassment’ of students as a main reason for her support of the ban. She also said students have approached her claiming harassment and annoyance from candidates.
“We are serving the students, not harassing the students, not annoying the students,” she said.
ASNMSU President Ala Alhalholy defended Chair Sheikh’s position to not ban Corbett Center as a campaigning location. She stressed the importance of the building’s location on the NMSU campus and its significance to the student body. She also cited that the ASNMSU office is in the same building where some senators want to ban campaigning in.
“I think we are using this word [harassment] very lightly; I don’t think engaging with students multiple times is harassment,” Alhalholy said. “I am done speaking on this matter. At the end of the day, the senate can vote however the senate wants.”
Some senators were upset that this discussion was ongoing. Chair Jaden Moore expressed his frustration at the trajectory of the meeting, where he said the point of the emergency meeting was to ensure the legality of the election packet was confirmed and that it can be published publicly for candidates to begin campaigning.
“The whole point we are in this emergency meeting right now is to make sure that this bill is going to be legal, and that we are going to get the election packet out to all of the candidates, to bring this back up feels wrong to me,” Moore said. “This is not what we are here for. This feels like a way for senators to reverse what has already been done.”
Ultimately, the Senate voted to remove Corbett Center Student Union from campaign grounds for upcoming election cycles.
Compliance with the New Mexico Open Meetings Act
Since ASNMSU is considered to be a governing body, the New Mexico Open Meetings Act requires their meetings to be open to the public, even in emergency circumstances. The only branch of ASNMSU that is exempt from holding meetings in a public forum is the ASNMSU supreme court.
New Mexico state law requires a 24-hour notice given to the public informing them about an upcoming emergency meeting .
“In most circumstances, the Attorney General will consider a reasonable notice procedure providing ten days advance notice for regular meetings, three days prior notice for special meetings and twenty-four hours advance notice for emergency meetings,” the New Mexico Open Meetings Act states.
Despite this law, there was no published record of ASNMSU’s emergency meeting on any public forum or social media platform as required by state law.
A stream of the meeting in real time also was not conducted by the officers in charge. This is in violation of ASNMSU bylaws section 5-1-7 which states, “public policy-making meetings shall be broadcasted on a publicly accessible platform. They shall also be recorded and kept in ASNMSU records.”
However, the association uploaded a copy of the Zoom recording on the association’s website after the emergency meeting took place.
The Round Up was made aware of the violation a day after the emergency senate meeting was conducted. It is the second known violation of the state statue this year. In the Spring of 2023, The Round Up reported that the election board officers failed to comply with both the Open Meetings Act and ASNMSU bylaws during an election board hearing regarding several presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
You can read more about the New Mexico Open Meetings Act by clicking here.
Update: On Oct. 7, ASNMSU posted on their Instagram account stating that the ASNMSU Supreme Court ruled all actions taken during the emergency senate meeting invalid. The court made this decision after finding that “the Senate and Vice President failed to adhere to ASNMSU Governing Documents” in regard to proper notice requirements and broadcasting and recording procedures.
