Steve Yang, University Board of Elections chair, reported an oversight in voter eligibility for the proposed Arts & Sciences Council referendum yesterday.
The constitutional amendment, which would ensure every department and interdisciplinary program in the College had a representative on the Council, is supposed to be considered by only voters in the College. An error, however, allowed all University students to vote on the amendment.
According to Yang, security concerns prevent the board from immediately addressing the problem.
"There's no way to edit an election after it's begun," he said.
In response to various ballot issues in years past, the board hosted a five-hour ballot preview for candidates to ensure all their information was accurate. Yang said this same technique was not applied to the referenda.
"We followed all of the rules," said Erica Siegmund, president of the Arts & Sciences Council, referring to the Council's participation in the ballot preview. "Unfortunately, I think it was just purely a mistake."
Yang said in the future, the board will host a similar ballot preview to guarantee the accuracy of referenda.
Yang added that it could be proven mathematically that the amendment would have received a majority among College voters; however, he noted that this was a remote possibility.
According to Yang, after the spring elections, all voters from schools other than the College will be subtracted from the "yes" column and the "no" column will be left untouched. If the amendment still passes with these changes, it will be certain that the amendment was legitimately approved by College voters.
In the event that this method fails to approve the amendment, another referendum will be held in a special election in coming weeks.
"The problem is we have to get the turnout over 10 percent," Arts & Sciences Council Ombudsman Todd Eley said.
The Arts & Sciences Council constitution stipulates at least 10 percent of College students must vote in elections in order for an amendment to be ratified.
-- Andy Mullan contributed to this article
Read More
Shots fired reported at 100 block of Harmon Street, no injuries reported
By Thomas Baxter | 2 days agoThis is the first community alert of June.
Full Board discusses financial aid challenges, medical research and entrepreneurship
By Thomas Baxter | 4 days agoBoard members discussed the Pan-University Entrepreneurship Initiative, a project that aims to help develop more entrepreneurial ventures at the University.
Finance Committee approves 2024-25 operating budget and Major Capital Plan
By Zackary Holt | 4 days agoThe proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget for the Academic Division includes a 6.8 percent increase in spending over the previous year.
