Pending approval from the Student Judiciary, Associated Students of Madison announced at the Constitutional Committee meeting Tuesday night the final election date for their newly proposed constitution will be moved back to Feb. 23 and 24.
According to Constitutional Committee Chair Jeff Wright, the reason for the change was to avoid conflict with the primary election scheduled for Feb. 17, the original date suggested for the vote on the constitution.
“There are a lot of candidates that will be out there voting,” Wright said. “Having a vote yes or no section on top of [the primary election] would be an information overload for students that could and should be avoided.”
Wright added having both elections on the same day would be an “informational burden.” He hopes the date change will hopefully result in an increase in voter turnout.
Since the bylaws aren’t due until two weeks before the final vote, Wright said pushing the election back gives ASM more time to perfect its amendment.
“Though we were prepared to have the bylaws ready by the original date, having a little more time to visit the bylaws is of course welcome,” Wright said.
According to Associated Students of Madison Vice Chair Hannah Karns, pushing the date back will also help ensure an effective campaign.
Karns said she supports the choice to move the date because it gives students more time to become informed about the proposed constitutional changes.
“I think some people are still unsure about their decision, mainly because they don’t have accurate information.” Karns said. “The more time we have to get correct information out to students, the more people will see the benefits of the new constitution and the more people we’ll get to vote yes.”
Wright said the Students for ASM Reform Committee met yesterday to discuss campaigning efforts to help maximize voter turnout and develop ways to convince students to vote yes.
Wright went on to say most of ASM’s efforts to promote the election would occur around the day of the election. ASM will be performing off-campus, door-to-door campaigning.
Until then, ASM is working to secure student organization endorsements, he added.
“We think it will be very beneficial if students see many groups unaffiliated with ASM supporting our new constitution,” Karns said. “We want students to be able to hear an un-biased, positive and informed opinion about the constitutional changes before it’s time for them to make their final decision.”
Karns said though unaffiliated groups are campaigning both for and against the changes in the constitution, she has faith “well-informed” people will vote yes.
The constitutional committee will be meeting Sunday for a final review of the bylaws. The bylaws will then be sent to Student Council for a final vote.
