March 12, 1998

48 Legislative Council Bill #2
University of Colorado
Student Union

Sponsored By:
Representative
Authored By:
Representative

Arts & Sciences
Tilak Mandal
Arts & Sciences
Tilak Mandal

A BILL
Bill History
The past few UCSU elections have seen a rather dramatic increase in the number of student organizations
that have used the referenda process as a means to secure funding for their events. Currently the procedure
for placing referenda on the ballot during either the fall or the spring elections is the attainment of one
thousand student signatures. In addition, as stated in the UCSU Constitution, so long as the fee increase
requested by the referenda does not increase the student fee by more than one percent, only one thousand
yes votes are required to pass a referenda. While this does appear to be a rather small number when
compared to the number of students that are eligible to vote today, when the totals were originally
established it was felt that one thousand affirmative votes were enough to indicate that the students at the
University of Colorado supported the issue in question. If one were to glance around campus today
however, it would be rather clear that the student population is on the rise and will soon reach twenty five
thousand. With the prospect of Co-op Housing, and half of the club sports, becoming a part of the
referenda section of the student fee package, in addition to the emergence of online voting, perhaps the time
has come to determine if it is indeed too easy to get a referenda passed.
Bill Summary
The purpose of this bill is to place a Constitutional Amendment on to the 1998 Spring Election Ballot to
Increase the number of votes required to pass referenda.
BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Council of the UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDENT
UNION, THAT:
Section 1:
That the following Constitutional Amendment be placed on the UCSU 1998
Spring
Elections Ballot.
Section 2:
XIII.C.6 shall be changed to the following
“To pass in popular vote, the referendum must be approved by a majority of voters
and have at least fifteen percent of the of the students eligible to vote at the time of
the election voting in favor of the referenda question.”
Section 3:
This bill shall take effect upon passage.
March 19, 1998

Passed 1st Reading

10-1-1

___________________________
Greg Benn, Legislative Council President

_____________________________
Jon Cooper, UCSU Executive

__________________________
Ben Goldmanis, UCSU Executive

____________________________________
Kierra Johnson, UCSU Executive