Tufts Elections Commission (ECOM) has received four referenda that will be put up for vote on the April 28 Tufts Community Union (TCU) presidential ballot, according to ECOM Chair Sharon Chen, a sophomore.
The first referendum focuses on the grammar of the TCU constitution and the referendum process. If passed, it would address past and current typos and formatting mistakes and change the procedure for submitting and voting on referenda.
The second would reorganize and change the phrasing of the preamble of the constitution and restructure a number of TCU committees.
One of these changes would make the TCU historian the chair of the Student Outreach Committee. There will also be changes to the qualifications needed for some positions, creating a process for two senators to serve on the Boston Intercollegiate Leadership Council and creating the position of a TCU government Webmaster.
The third referendum is the Community Empowerment and Equality Model (CEE) proposal on the community representatives on the Senate and the body's new position of diversity and community affairs officer (DCA).
The fourth referendum also addresses the issue of community representatives and the DCA, but is the Diversity Task Force's proposal for the issue.
The two plans are similar in their criteria for community representatives and in granting the Africana; Latino; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender; and Asian American Centers the first four community representatives. They each also establish a DCA who will be part of the Senate's Executive Board.
The referenda differ, however, because the CEE proposal gives community representatives full senator voting rights, and the Diversity Task Force proposal does not.
The addition of these referenda to the ballot has caused controversy, as junior Christopher Snyder yesterday registered a formal complaint with the TCU Judiciary against ECOM for allowing the referenda to appear on the ballot.
Snyder stated in his complaint that in doing so, ECOM's bylaws were violated, and he called for all four referenda to be struck off the ballot.
He cited bylaws specifying that referenda must be received and explained on ECOM's website seven academic days before they are voted on. Snyder also pointed out the requirement that ECOM must advertise the full text of the referenda and the date they will be voted on.
Snyder expressed his belief that all these bylaws were violated, defeating their aim of protecting the student body against having to vote on inadequately advertised referenda. He believes that the community representative issue is particularly complicated, requiring students to be better informed about the two proposals prior to the vote.
