Student Union Senate and Treasury voted to remove incumbent tags on all future SU ballots through a roll call vote at a joint session Tuesday evening.

Despite debate two weeks prior to Tuesday’s vote, Senators and Treasurers voted unanimously to implement freshman and SU Election Commissioner Steven Kish’s new proposal to remove incumbent tags, which placed the word “incumbent” next to a candidate’s name on ballots in past elections.

“SU took a fantastic step forward in connecting SU to the student body on a more fundamental level. I think that by removing incumbent tags, we have effectively removed significant barriers to entry for people who are not [currently] in Student Union but want to join,” Kish said.

Sophomore Shelly Gupta, a Treasury representative, believes this proposal has the potential to show that SU is looking out for the best interest of the student body.

“Some of the people who were voting were going to be incumbents, if they chose to run again. It was up to us, [Senate and Treasury], to vote in a way the student body would want us to and not in a self-interested way. The fact that everyone voted unanimously to get rid of incumbent tags was a big step in showing that—even though we would be the ones benefitting—we are looking out for the student body, who we are ultimately serving,” Gupta said.

Although representatives running for reelection this fall will not benefit from the removal of the incumbent tags, Kish and Gupta both believe that the representative body made the right choice in bettering the election process.

“I was feeling good going into the vote. I know that we had significant support going in, [as well as] some disapproval. I was definitely surprised and impressed,” Kish said.

Junior and Senator Joey Vettiankal motioned for a roll call vote, a type of vote where each representative individually says their vote out loud, on Tuesday evening. According to Gupta, this type of vote puts pressure on each representative to fairly represent the desire of the student body.

“I think the roll call vote really made people aware that they needed to be accountable for the way they voted not just inside the room but also on campus,” Gupta said.

The new incumbent tag rule has two main goals: to remove incumbent tags from all SU ballots and to have the first 20 words of each candidate’s candidacy statement, regardless of incumbent status, shown on the main page of the ballot.

The full proposal, which will go into effect immediately, states:

“Incumbent status will not be noted on the ballot by the Election Commissioner, but can be noted any way a candidate wishes in the candidate statement. The first 20 words of the candidate’s statement will be visible immediately upon opening the ballot, and the full candidate statement will be available in a pop-up for each candidate. As noted in Rule #11, falsifying any part of a candidate’s statement will result in disqualification.”

In addition to incumbent tags, two other election-related proposals were voted on during Tuesday evening’s session.

The first rule passed stated that candidates can use voting tables only throughout the campaign process, rather than to set up polling booths or tents on election day. The change passed unanimously, with senators and Treasury representatives noting that the previous policy placed pressure on students to vote for the candidates who set up voting booths.

A rule that would have amended candidate donations, including both physical donations and donations of time, failed. The proposed rule would have required all donations to have approval in writing by the election commissioner, while the current policy allows representatives to use unskilled labor without seeking approval from the commissioner.

Kish and Gupta, among others, agree that all three of these proposals, regardless of passage, help foster a more accountable relationship between representatives and their constituents.

“It made me feel really good about the direction SU is heading in,” Kish said.