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Student Judiciary prepares for elections

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Also by Mary Blitzer:

by Mary Blitzer

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary voted on a new set of rules Monday for the upcoming paper ballot election to be held Oct. 18-19.

After an embarrassing semester featuring botched elections last spring, Student Judiciary representatives hope that expanded polling times and restrictions on campaigning will contribute to a smoother process this fall.

And according to Chief Justice Joshua Tyack, "no problems are expected."

The elections will be conducted with paper ballots placed in locked election boxes, counted by a Scantron machine and supervised at all times by an ASM representative.

Elections for the Living Wage referendum — which campaigns for limited term employees to receive higher wages — and the Student Union Initiative — which aims to increase segregated fees for UW students — were negated in the spring elections and will be voted on again this semester.

In order to remain consistent with last spring's campaign, none of the wording of the referendums will change, SJ members decided. In addition to those two referendums, freshmen will also be voting on their Associated Students of Madison Student Council representatives.

Associate Justice Shannon Brusda said in light of last spring's electronic voting failures, SJ made the decision to implement paper balloting to ensure all votes are counted.

"I know running a paper election will be expensive," Brusda said. "But I am willing to spend whatever money is necessary in order to conduct a fair election."

The consensus from the Student Judiciary, however, is the paper ballot procedure will only last for one semester. SJ said it plans to have an electronic system ready to go by the spring semester — either with UW's Division of Information Technology or with a private contractor.

The new rules will allow the polls to be open from 12 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. both days of the election. Originally, the election was supposed to last until 6 p.m.

"The extra half hour could expand the voter numbers significantly," Associate Justice Tim Leonard said, adding that many students will visit Holt and Gordon Commons polling locations for dinner at that time.

Brusda said she was worried about finding the funding to support the extra 30 minutes, but agreed with Leonard that it was a worthwhile expense.

Expanding the hours of voting is important in order to grant graduate, commuter and special students the opportunity to vote, according to Shayna Hetzel, a representative supporting the Student Union Initiative.

Hetzel said she wants to have additional polling stations along with the four locations SJ has already determined. However, the Student Judiciary deemed Hetzel's suggestion to be too expensive.

"Adding additional voting places is simply infeasible," Brusda said. "This would require hiring 48 new people for each location."

The justices also voted and passed an expansion of the ASM bylaws that limits referendum and Student Council candidate campaigning to be at least 100 feet away from the polling places.

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Anonymous (September 19, 2006 @ 8:10am):

Voting for either of the two referendums would be a misuse of student segregated fees. It's time to find an alternate source of funding for these projects - a source where the burden is not entirely placed on student's backs.

Anonymous (September 19, 2006 @ 4:08pm):

The living wage referendum wouldn't fall directly on students, but would go to General revenue sources.

If it does pass for the 3rd straight time this fall, will SJ and the administration finally accept it? Or will they try to find some additional lame excuse to throw it out?

Anonymous (September 20, 2006 @ 12:21pm):

The living wage referendum WILL fall directly on students through any combination of the following four things:
1. increased segregated fees
[this initiative only affects Auxiliary units: the Union, Rec. Sports and UHS...this is NOT a campus initiative]

2. decreased services
[if pay rates go up for students and LTEs alike, these units will either have to cut services or raise prices....pure economics]
3. increased prices

4. loss of jobs
[if these units are paying students and LTEs that standard, then FTE positions may prove better options for organizations...i.e. less student jobs available in these units]

Anonymous (September 20, 2006 @ 12:22pm):

FYI...

SSFC AND THE STUDENT BODY DOES NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO SET WAGES.

ask the chancellor. ask any SSFC chair in the know. ask any educated student who understands campus constitutions, bylaws, relationships, and politics.