The Board of Elections (BoE) has scheduled a school-wide student referendum starting Sunday at 12:00 a.m. and ending at 11:59 p.m. Monday to decide the fate of a proposed constitution that aims to dramatically restructure the Student Council (StuCo).
All undergraduates will be able to vote on the constitution via the BoE website. The results of the referendum will be released at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
On Friday night, prior to the voting, there will be a debate at 7 p.m. in Mattin 160 featuring supporters from both sides of the issue.
The whirlwind series of events that has led to the referendum began last Sunday night when freshman Jered Ede submitted his proposed constitution to the BoE. At Tuesday night's StuCo meeting, members of the BoE announced that the petition had garnered 200 signatures, and that it would be put to a vote.
If it passes, the constitution would make substantial changes.
First, it would create new legislative committees that would oversee finance, legislation, appointments, and performance of governing bodies.
These committees could spell trouble for groups such as the Student Activities Comission (SAC). Ede said that under the plan, no SAC members would be removed from their jobs, but that they would have a higher level of accountability to the student government.
The proposed constitution would also change the title of Student Council Representative to "Senator." Each class would have four Senators who would be elected based on the committee on which they would serve.
In addition, the Executive Council would be charged with managing day-to-day operations and "programs designed to improve the undergraduate experience on the Homewood campus," according to the petition.
Ede said that he made the constitution because he felt that StuCo could use its power more efficiently.
"The problem with the current Student Council is that the Executive Council is not separate from the Student Assembly. When you have them meeting in the same room, no one can do their job effectively," he said.
Despite Ede's optimism, the proposed Constitution has met with opposition from StuCo members, including President Charles Reyner.
"I'm a bit worried because this constitution leaves out some important things. I think it completely changes Student Council's position and tries to make it into a social board," Reyner said.
The events that led to the special election also came as a surprise to many, including Reyner. "I'm amazed that someone could bring a new constitution without speaking to anyone on Student Council," he said.
Reyner said that the mood of other StuCo members was much the same.
"I think people were generally surprised. I think they felt they didn't have enough time to investigate," he said.
BoE Co-Chair Rick Aseltine said that scheduling the vote during exams would have been unacceptable, and that the the BoE felt that this issue should be resolved before Executive Board elections.
"The only time that left us with was before Thanksgiving. The BoE unanimously voted to run the election this week," Aseltine said.
Director of Student Involvement Jeffrey Groden Thomas said that he believes StuCo and BoE are following procedures for this election.
"The process is working the way it's supposed to. I think since he's gotten the signatures so quickly, I don't see why the voting can't take place soon," he said.
Reyner said that he understands the reason for having the vote so soon.
"The Board of Elections is within its power to do this with the election. I think they had sound reasons for why they're doing this in this time frame.
--Staff Writer Raphael Schweber-Koren contributed to this article.
