Students logging in to WebCenter shortly after midnight to cast their vote for Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate president also found on the ballot four referenda that were slated to be voted on in a separate election on Monday, May 3.
The addition of the four referenda to today's ballot marked the third time the date for the vote was changed. A TCU Judiciary ruling last night paved the way for a Tufts Election Commission (ECOM) decision to bring forward the referenda vote to its originally intended date.
On hearing ECOM's initial announcement that four referenda would be placed on today's presidential ballot, juniors Christopher Snyder and David Peck on April 22 filed a complaint asking that the referenda be taken off the ballot due to violations of bylaws.
They cited in particular bylaws specifying that referenda be received and explained briefly on ECOM's website at least seven academic days before the vote, and that ECOM advertise the full text of the referenda seven days before the vote.
The Judiciary never heard the complaint, however, because ECOM of its own accord pushed back the vote for the referenda to a separate May 3 election.
This decision raised concerns that a separate, special election for the referenda would not draw sufficient voter participation for its results to be valid. A minimum 25 percent turnout is required for the election's results to hold.
The referenda vote was of special interest because the third and fourth referenda concern proposed changes to the Senate's community representative position, a matter that, along with the issue of minority representation, has been extensively debated.
This prompted outgoing TCU President Brandon Rattiner, a senior, to appeal ECOM's decision and file a complaint with the Judiciary motioning for the referenda to be put back on today's ballot.
"It requires 25 percent of the student body [to vote] for the referenda to pass, and there's just no way we would have gotten that on Monday," Rattiner said.
The Judiciary at last night's hearing of Rattiner's appeal voted 3-1 to give ECOM the final say over the date of the vote, paving the way for this latest date change.
"In a 3-1 decision, the [Judiciary] has decided that the date the referenda are to be placed on the ballot is ultimately at the discretion of ECOM," the Judiciary said in a statement to involved parties explaining the ruling. "Due to the youth, confusion, and lack of precedent surrounding the ECOM bylaws in question, we will not find it inappropriate if ECOM decides to shift the date of voting to April 28."
The statement further expressed the sentiment that it was not the Judiciary's place to impose a date for the vote.
"The [Judiciary] would be overstepping its jurisdiction to force ECOM to move the date … Unless ECOM decides in the next few hours to move the election to [April 28], it will take place on May 3," the statement said.
ECOM Chair Sharon Chen, a sophomore, informed the Daily that ECOM did make that decision to return the referenda to today's ballot. Chen could not be reached for further comment at press time.
Rattiner applauded ECOM's decision. "The people on ECOM acted admirably; they knew they made a mistake [in changing the date of the election] and did the right thing by putting [the referenda] back on the ballot," he said.
Snyder, however, disagreed and expressed his disappointment that the bylaws were ignored.
"I think that it's politics over procedure; however, I didn't have the time to continue fighting to uphold the integrity of the process with … my academic commitments," Snyder said. "In terms of turnout, just raw turnout, this date is better than May 3, and it's just unfortunate that ECOM rules had to be set aside in the process to get at this outcome."
Snyder further urged students to ensure they had enough information to make an educated vote on the four referenda.
The first referendum calls for changes to the language of the TCU constitution and to the referendum process itself, most notably eliminating the minimum 25 percent turnout requirement for the passage of referenda and adding procedures needed for referenda to be placed on ballots.
The second referendum restructures a number of TCU committees, adds provisions for the election of a TCU webmaster and representatives to the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council, and revises the qualifications listed for certain positions.
The third and fourth referenda contain competing proposals for the Senate's community representative position. The position came under scrutiny when questions were raised about the current community representative system, including representatives' current lack of full voting powers on Senate — they do not have the power to vote on fiscal matters.
Rattiner convened a Diversity Task Force to study the matter, and the proposal that emerged as referendum four, which establishes procedures for granting and electing community representatives, creates a new Diversity and Community Affairs Officer position on the Executive Board and grants four initial community representative positions to the Africana; Latino; Asian American; and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centers.
A competing proposal, the Community Empowerment and Equality Model, was developed in the process, partially by dissenting task force members. The proposal, encompassed by referendum three, shares many similarities with that of the task force's, with the primary difference being that it would grant community representatives full senator voting rights.
Other differences between the two include the procedures for selecting community representatives and the DCA.
Full text of all the referenda are available through links on the ballot and on ECOM's website.
