The UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress passed the True Democracy Act of 2009, which addresses how members of UOSA can be recalled and how many signatures are required on a petition to put an initiative on a general election ballot.
Congress took up the issues as suggested by the UOSA Superior Court’s Nov. 11 opinions in cases regarding Matt Bruenig’s cases against the UOSA General Counsel Michael Davis.
“Erasing or replacing [the language of the UOSA Constitution] is not something this Court is willing or able to do,” UOSA Superior Court Justice Clint Claypole stated in the court’s decision. “The remedy for any problems ... is not in the hands of this Court, but in the hands of the members of the UOSA.”
The act contains two bills: one amending the UOSA Constitution and one amending the UOSA Code.
“We have had some loopholes that have been exploited and abused by some members of the student body,” UOSA Student Congress Vice Chairman Matt Gress said.
The first bill of the True Democracy Act would only allow members in a given district to recall their own members. Another portion of the constitutional amendment changes the number of signatures required on a ballot to 10 percent of the total number of eligible voters in the district in question. Graduate Student Senate still must approve the measure before it can be voted on by the student body.
“Under these proposals, you have to be in the district of the person you recall,” Gress said.
The second bill would create new requirements for how someone may submit a petition to place a referendum on an election ballot.
The bill would set clear requirements and standards for proposing a petition for recall and constitutional initiatives.
The new requirements include a 90-day limit on the collection of signatures, five days given to the UOSA General Counsel to approve the petition and require clear language in the ballot question proposed by the initiative petition. This requirement would mean a student who votes “yes” on an issue would be voting for a measure, and a student voting “no” would be voting against it.
Because the new requirements for petitions are amending the UOSA Code, the bill will become law if passed by the Graduate Student Senate and signed by UOSA President Katie Fox, said Spencer Pittman, Undergraduate Student Congress spokesman.
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Tiberius 2 years, 6 months ago
I'm pretty sure SDS was counting on the ignorance of the OU student body to advance their agenda. How else would a group with positions so contrary to the majority of OU students expect to be able to get their way in elections?
TAG 2 years, 6 months ago
Thank you democracynow. There are too many issues facing this student body to really worry about protecting themselves from the student body. A protest in front of the Conoco Student Center would be awesome. SDS should support that and demand real action on Dead Week, Green Initiatives, Tuition, and helping the student body with other important issues and actually, dare I say, reach out to the student body? gasp
soonerboomers 2 years, 6 months ago
Wow. There is not a single electoral district in the world that bases its recall numbers on a percentage of the electorate. Every single one of them I have ever seen is based on vote totals in the previous election. This is protectivism at its worse.
sandra 2 years, 6 months ago
Do 10% of eligible voters even vote in UOSA elections? Sounds like UOSA is depending on the ignorance of their constituents.
Sounds like True Democracy to me!*
*note: facetious
Anon 2 years, 6 months ago
How are their views contrary to the majority of OU students? As an OU student, I agree with what they are doing, and almost everyone I have talked to does as well.
democracynow 2 years, 6 months ago
UOSA should use this much energy when trying get things done that really mean something to this University. I know that happens rarely, but I imagine some members would be shocked by how much good they could actually do if they weren't wasting their energy fighting students who really just want to see positive things happen on our campus.