News
ASM fails to certify results
Inability to produce required officials halts election count
Looking for a print version?
Simply use your browser’s ‘Print’ command and a printer-friendly document will be generated automatically.
Also by Taylor Cox:
- Colleges should learn from swine flu (May 6, 2009)
- ASM elects Junger chair (May 6, 2009)
- Alteration of system's code of conduct creates controversy (May 5, 2009)
- Promised cash may not come (May 5, 2009)
- U of M to go with Gmail (May 1, 2009)
Sharing tools:
E-mail this article:
The University of Wisconsin student body will have to wait one or two days to hear the results of the electronically tallied Associated Students of Madison election due to the council’s inability to meet the five-person quorum needed Wednesday to certify the results.
According to ASM election bylaws, five members of the Student Judiciary committee, including the Student Elections Committee chair, must be present to confirm all election results before they can be sent out to the student body, ASM Vice Chair Hannah Karns said.
“It’s all recorded online,” ASM member Kurt Gosselin said regarding the election results. “They just look at it online, make sure there wasn’t anything wrong with it and then post the result.”
Despite the efforts made by Karns and Student Services Finance Committee Chair Carl Fergus to get members of the Student Judiciary to meet Wednesday night, the Student Judiciary could still not meet quorum, according to ASM member Tyler Junger.
SEC Chair Katherine Tondrowski was present at the initial meeting scheduled by the Student Judiciary to review the results, according to Karns, but at that time, SJ did not meet quorum.
Karns added that when quorum was not met, Tondrowski left.
Shortly after, four members of Student Judiciary were present in the ASM offices, though without Tondrowski present, the results could not be verified.
“She was writing a paper,” Gosselin said. “Not everyone was on the same page about when they were going to meet. It sounds like it was thrown together, and they have three days to make the determination.”
Gosselin added he did not think it made “too much of a difference” whether the results were revealed today or tomorrow, since ASM bylaws grant SJ three days to review the results before they are submitted to the student body.
While Gosselin said he believes the Student Judiciary reserves their three-day right, not everyone shared that opinion.
“I think it’s important to be respectful and to react as quickly as possible,” Karns said. “There was a lot of debate about the importance of the election results getting out.”
Junger said he agreed the results should have been posted tonight.
“I think it’s important for the image of ASM,” Junger said. “But the new term doesn’t start until the first of May. … The fact [the election results are] not out is not detrimental, it is just an inconvenience.”
According to Junger, the Student Judiciary will meet at 7 p.m. today to review the elections results. He added the preliminary results should be posted shortly thereafter.
ASM bylaws then grant the student body five days to file an election complaint before the next session of ASM is confirmed.
Tondrowski did not respond to several phone calls from The Badger Herald as of press time.
18 Comments | Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Herald Blogs
The Beat Goes On
Fans of Waits will not be disappointed
Muckrakers
Report: Barrett to make decision by the end of the week
Extra Points
Top Classified Ads (view all)
SPRING SUBLET: 1 bedroom in 2 bedroom at the Aberdeen. Rent negotiable. Email arkramer@wisc.edu
GENTLE WOMEN...THROUGH the lens of Douglas J. Nesbit, newly released book now available for holiday gifts! www.gentlewomen.us
IP hash: 4e900e8c
“According to Junger, the Student Judiciary will meet at 7 p.m. today to review the elections results. He added the preliminary results should be posted shortly thereafter.”
News to me, guys.
IP hash: 32a9ff20
Hahahaha, typical, ASM.
IP hash: 32a9ff20
FAIL.
IP hash: 8f711626
Epic fail.
IP hash: 424b8689
BH, get your facts straight, for once: it was not the Council’s inability to meet quorum—it was the Student Judiciary’s. And SJ is not a committee!
IP hash: 590448ee
Wow….yet another ASM blunder. They cant even get 5 people together to say, “Yup, that looks good.”
Time for ASM to let go and allow student organizations to start from scratch in developing a student government that works.
IP hash: bdb518c6
So if the results don’t come out the way they want, they can just throw them out on a technicality, just like they did the two times the Union Initiative was rejected.
IP hash: d8f3091c
This isn’t the first time this has happened in recent years. SJ needs to get its act together and start communicating with and respecting the SEC.
IP hash: bf0ad378
ASM can’t even get its own members to participate. Unbelievable.
IP hash: 7575af64
BH seems like putting “ASM’ and “fail” together. They prb saved space on the first page for the results then had to fill it with bullshit. Evidence: Kurt Gosselin and Tyler Junger have nothing to do with election process, do they?. So…… looks like they were desperate. Unless they just make common practice of using irrelevant sources. That’s very possible.
IP hash: 4d339e04
I cant help but chuckle. ASM lost my respect a long time ago and it seems as though they are making every effort (or lack there of) to maintain their current image, which must be very embarassing to them.
Masturbating doesn’t kill kittens, ASM does.
IP hash: 557b2368
10:07- Actually, ASM didnt throw out the Union elections, DoIT did. Plus, most of the ASM leadership at the time, including the chair, was against the initiative. What you said makes no sense at all
IP hash: 1f6910a9
Unfortunately for ASM, on a news day that was supposed to be about the positive and proactive open forum held yesterday evening, it’s now about the un-ratified election results due a Student Judiciary that doesn’t seem to care about general student opinions.
ASM continues to ingrain itself deeper into the minds of students and their constituents as an out-of-touch organization, and the sad part is, this time around it’s not anyone’s fault besides one or two lazy members of SJ.
Committees and branches considered to be entities of ASM, but who are not under their direct control, continue to fuck up, and make it easy for students to point fingers towards ASM in total as incompetent and poorly led.
Good for you, Kurt, for calling SJ out on it.
IP hash: 5235ca9d
This ASM failure is straight on Tondrowski. 4 Justices + Tondrowski = quorum. Her job is to run the elections, and clearly there was an available meeting time when enough justices could be present. Then, in addition to not being able to do her one job, she can’t be reached for comment on why she can’t do her one job? Come on, I write papers too.
IP hash: 32a9ff20
Headline should read: “ASM Needs More Time to Tamper with Results Since Their People Were Not Elected”
IP hash: f5316bce
hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha
IP hash: 14840b3d
I work for ASM and I am embarrassed by this.
IP hash: 1f6910a9
Unfortunately for ASM, on a news day that was supposed to be about the positive and proactive open forum held yesterday evening, it’s now about the un-ratified election results due a Student Judiciary that doesn’t seem to care about general student opinions.
ASM continues to ingrain itself deeper into the minds of students and their constituents as an out-of-touch organization, and the sad part is, this time around it’s not anyone’s fault besides one or two lazy members of SJ.
Committees and branches considered to be entities of ASM, but who are not under their direct control, continue to fuck up, and make it easy for students to point fingers towards ASM in total as incompetent and poorly led.
Good for you, Kurt, for calling SJ out on it.