The Downtown student government Senate passed a proposal at its meeting last Friday to put the universal constitution and election code to a student referendum today.
Click here to review the proposed constitution and election code. If passed, the constitution and election code will go into effect immediately.
To vote on the constitution and election code, click here.
Voting began at midnight and will end at 4 p.m.
Read Sen. Zack Lindsay’s opinion in support of the proposed constitution here.
Read Sen. Rachel Cassinat’s opinion in opposition to the proposed constitution here.
Downtown students have until 4 p.m. today to accept or reject the universal constitution and election code on this campus.
In an attempt to help Downtown students better understand the constitution before they vote, the Downtown Devil broke down changes in the referendum into several major points and how they would potentially affect Downtown student government operations and the Downtown student body.
• One of the most drastic changes in the universal constitution is the creation of a Student Government Supreme Court. The court would have jurisdiction over under all disputes involving the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate and Professional Student Association.
One student selected from each campus and GPSA – and confirmed by their respective senates – would sit on the court. Specifics regarding the court’s procedures are not laid out in the constitution; the constitution says the court will establish its own. They will be subject to annual review by the Presidents Council.
Downtown President Joseph Grossman first mentioned the possible creation of a Supreme Court during the spring semester election season when he was disqualified and later reinstated. He said then that a pan-campus ruling division would cut down on any bias or prejudices held by individual campus’ judicial board members.
• The new election code would alter how Downtown student government operates with the creation of a three-student ticket for presidential nominations. Presidential tickets would consist of a candidate for president, vice president of services and vice president of policy. This system is currently how Tempe elects their administration. Grossman said this improves student government by increasing the amount of executive positions students can elect from two to three.
• If the universal constitution is ratified, the current Downtown campus constitution will be demoted in a way that would designate it as campus bylaws. This makes the stipulations in this document much easier and faster to change.
It is unknown what government members would change in the current constitution given the chance, but there have been problems in the past with unclear or confusion passages. In the last month, Senate members had struggled determining the proper way to propose the universal constitution to the students as a referendum.
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
