The Student Body Supreme Court of Indiana University The Action Election Ticket v. The Crimson Election Ticket and The Unity Election Ticket Docket Number 03-01 (2003) Complaints were filed in the 2003 Indiana University Student Association Elections by The Action Election Ticket claiming a variety of violations by The Crimson Elections Ticket and The Unity Election Ticket of the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A). The Action Election Ticket comes before this Court seeking redress from the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission decision to reject their complaint against The Crimson Election Ticket and The Unity Election Ticket because of the Action Election Ticket’s failure to properly file the complaint in time. The Court issued a writ of certiorari. The Chief Justice Brian Clifford and Associate Justice Schuyler Geller delivered the opinion of the Court. The Student Body Supreme Court of Indiana University recognizes its responsibility as the highest judicial body within the Indiana University – Bloomington student government system to preserve the integrity of the student government elections and to protect the rights and address the concerns of the student body. The Indiana University Student Association Constitution and the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code(Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A) are the mechanisms that protect these rights. The Indiana University Student Association Congress, acting within its constitutional prerogative, through the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A), only grants this Court appellate jurisdiction in matters of appeals from the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission [Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title VIII, Sections 803 and 807 (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A)]. This Court, operating under the constraints aforementioned, cannot enter a judgment for the judicial remedy that The Action Election Ticket petitions us for. The Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission is a sovereign body, granted authority for judicial review and designated as the fact finding body of election disputes under the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title I, Section 104.10 (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A). Under this authority, the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission is empowered to accept or reject election complaints and contestments pursuant to Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title VIII, Section 801 (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A) and Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title VIII, Section 802 (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A). In regards to properly filed election complaints, the mandate to the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission is clear; they are required to “hear all properly filed complaints [or contestments]” [Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title VIII, Section 802 (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A) (emphasis added)]. The matter of dispute in this case centers on the discretion granted to the Elections Commission under the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code in ruling on improperly filed complaints and contestments. When faced with a question of statutory interpretation, it is commonly accepted legal doctrine that the Student Body Supreme Court of Indiana University must first look to the plain meaning of the language contained within the statute, and only if the language is unclear can the Court extrapolate further. A clear reading of the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title VIII (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A) shows that nothing requires the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission to reject improperly filed complaints in totum. This Court believes, as has been the commonly accepted principle in previous elections, that this signals the intent of Indiana University Student Association Congress to allow for the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission to act on a case-by-case basis when deciding to hear improperly filed complaints.Given this standard, this Court can only reverse such a determination on the basis of clear error, blatant abuse of discretion or personal bias. Nothing in the record before this Court shows that the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission made a clear error in the determination that The Action Election Ticket complaint and contestment was improperly filed; indeed, The Action Election Ticket members themselves have at no point in their petition or arguments to this Court contested this determination. Additionally, there is nothing at bar to suggest blatant abuse of discretion or personal bias. Therefore, the Student Body Supreme Court of Indiana University finds that the Indiana University Student Association Elections Commission acted within their legitimate authority under the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, Title I, Section 104.10 (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A) in rejecting The Action Election Ticket complaint and contestment. This Court recognizes the legitimate and troubling concerns brought forth in the body of The Action Election Ticket’s complaint and contestment as it relates to the legitimacy of this year’s Indiana University Student Association elections process. However, since this Court has no original jurisdiction in matters of appeal from the decisions of the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code, these matters must be addressed in the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code itself, a concern that this Court clearly identified in its decision in the matter of The Steel Election Ticket v. The Kirkwood Election Ticket, 02-01 (2002) or through a direct challenge to the constitutionality of the Indiana University Student Association Elections Code (Indiana University Student Association Bylaws, Appendix A), in whole or in part, which would fall under the original jurisdiction of this Court [Indiana University Student Association