The University Board of Elections announced changes to its election policies at an informational meeting last night, one of which included the printing of official petition packets for referenda sponsors.
Students who wish to place a referendum on a student election ballot will be given a packet from the UBE after submitting their proposal. The packets will have the exact text of the proposed referendum printed on the top of each signature page.
UBE regulations require that every page of signatures collected contain the full text of the referendum.
"We understand how hard it is when you're collecting 950 signatures to make sure every student sees the exact texts," UBE member Matt Madden said.
An attempted referendum was dismissed last fall by the UBE when it was discovered that some of the signature sheets did not contain the referendum's text.
The failed referendum called for an addition to the University's Standards of Conduct, enforced by the University Judiciary Committee to include a standard for hate crimes.
The petition was ruled invalid when some of the signatures were thrown out, causing the referendum to fall below the 900 signatures that were required at the time for a referendum to appear on the ballot.
In addition to the failure of that referendum to garner enough signatures, the sponsors wished to pull the referendum because of concerns that a hate crime Standard would be unconstitutional and would open the University up to possible litigation.
The new UBE regulations also stipulate that a referendum cannot be removed by its sponsors after it has garnered the requisite number of signatures. However, should there be a question of the referendum's legality, the University General Counsel's Office has the right to inform voters.
"That came about after the fall referendum issue," UBE Chair Sara Anderson said.
According to Madden, the UBE is trying to help the proponents of referenda establish their final wording well before the election.
The UBE announced changes at last night's information session, one of three meetings candidates can attend to learn about the election process. The UBE will be holding additional meetings tonight and tomorrow night.
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