In the wake of a failed proposal for a new constitution, Associated Students of Madison representatives said Tuesday inadequate campaigning efforts and popular misconceptions among students contributed to their defeat.
According to ASM member John Tackett, the student government did not adequately describe the reforms the new constitution could have offered.
“Unfortunately, there were only so many of us and we wanted to work on the set of bylaws … so a lot of our (campaigning) time got sucked into that when maybe it would have been better for us to go out and speak,” Tackett said.
ASM Chair Brittany Wiegand added their time would have been better spent spreading their message and ensuring that students were aware of the checks and balances of the new government.
“I guess we could have done a better job reframing the message we were sending out,” Wiegand said.
Constitutional Committee Chair Jeff Wright added increased efforts to assure general student services fund groups their funding would be protected under the new constitution could have helped their cause as well.
Vote No Coalition member Chynna Haas agreed her group had a greater on-campus presence throughout the campaigning process, adding the grassroots efforts reached more students, several of whom reported hearing more efforts to get students to vote against the new constitution than for it.
“We sent out e-mails, spoke at meetings and did a lot of on-the-ground work (including) handing out flyers at Library Mall and outside Gordon commons and had kiosks in the union,” Haas added. “Even so, everyone said they didn’t know a lot of what was going on but they knew more about Vote No.”
Haas also said a campus-wide e-mail from the Vote Yes campaign, which included an inaccurate list of student groups endorsing their stance, may have caused the Vote Yes campaign to appear less legitimate to students.
ASM member Kurt Gosselin added there have been several allegations against the Vote No coalitions regarding campaigning violations that may have given them an unfair advantage.
The Vote No coalition violated campaigning laws, according to UW freshman Kelsey Macomber, by illegally promoting their stance in the dorms, a violation known as “dorm storming.”
Macomber said a Vote No coalition member went door to door down her hallway at Witte Residence Hall handing out pamphlets and encouraging residents to vote against the constitution to prevent too much power from being placed in the hand of the proposed president.
“I went to the debate last week, so I knew there was more to the issue,” Macomber said. “He just made it seem so black and white, when it really wasn’t, but my roommate didn’t know much about it and was leaning towards no based on what he said.”
Though no official allegations have been filed, Student Elections Commissions Chair Katherine Tondrowski said the committee has five days to gather evidence and decide if an appeal of Tuesday’s election results would be in the best interest of the student body.
However, Wright said an appeal was unlikely due to the margin of the vote.
“It’s unfortunate. I think we did a very good job of playing by the rules, but that’s what happens,” Wright said. “My guess is nothing is going to be done of this or made of this.”
