Here we go again.
A last-ditch effort by ASUO President Jay Breslow couldn’t stop the ASUO Constitution Court from halting the election on the OSPIRG and Multicultural Center ballot measures Wednesday night after five student senators filed a grievance against the MCC measure.
The injunction stopped voting on both measures, even though Sens. Mary Elizabeth Madden, Jennifer Greenough, Jackie Ray, Skye Tenney and Greg Zimmel also petitioned the court to stop voting on the MCC funding request only.
Measure voting began Monday, and the polls were scheduled to close Friday.
Court Justice Alan Tauber filed the injunction, which needs only one justice’s approval, and Breslow’s attempt to sway a majority of the court to overturn the decision fell flat by one vote.
The MCC is requesting $18,555 in student fees to help smaller student groups host “culturally diverse programming.”
But the senators in the grievance said the measure’s wording violates the authority of the Programs Finance Committee, the senate and a law created by the U.S. Supreme Court less than one year ago.
Madden, also PFC chairwoman, said she first had problems with the MCC measure when she voted Monday. She said the budget figures in the ballot measure don’t match what PFC was going to give the group.
She added that ASUO rules give the senate — not the MCC — power to dole out money to campus groups.
“If approved, members of the MCC would allocate incidental fee monies as they deemed fit,” the grievance said.
Finally, the grievance charges the MCC measure breaks last year’s Southworth Supreme Court ruling that fee allocation must be on a “viewpoint neutral” basis.
Madden said the MCC would break that ruling if it gave money only to groups hosting diversity events.
But Breslow, who worked in the MCC last year, said the MCC needed to list what it currently receives in student funds, which appears in the measure.
“According to the rules, that part is right,” he said.
As Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning, Breslow and other members of the Executive staff raced office chairs and listened to Kenny Rogers, waiting to hear from Chief Justice Rob Raschio. But when Raschio called to say the election would not restart, the atmosphere quickly changed from jovial anticipation to an air of heated debate.
Justice Ashan Awan told Breslow he ruled for the injunction because he hadn’t read the grievance and didn’t want to make a decision without all the information.
“It’s really a mockery,” Breslow said of the current state of the election. “It’s really a shame that it’s going down like this. We’re at the point where we’re going to make students vote five times.”The court will have a busy schedule March 16 when it decides on the funding matter and an earlier appeal by disqualified Executive candidates Bret Jacobson and Matt Cook, which first put the brakes on the process earlier this week.
The ASUO Elections Board, ruling on a grievance filed by Executive opponent Jeff Oliver, removed Jacobson and Cook on the night of the primary election after the pair distributed campaign fliers in the residence halls.
But Wednesday’s decision left the senators and members of OSPIRG confused. The court ruled Monday that ballot measure voting could continue because University President Dave Frohnmayer must receive fee totals by April 1 to be approved by the Oregon University System.
ASUO rules govern that elections cannot be held during Dead Week or Finals Week. This means the injunction will ensure the ballot measure result won’t be available by April 1.
Frohnmayer is out of the state and Executive Assistant President Dave Hubin, who could also answer questions regarding the funding deadline, could not be reached for comment.
Tauber said he could not comment on the injunction.
“We’ve made no determination on the merits of the grievance,” Tauber said.
But OSPIRG spokeswoman Melissa Unger said the court’s decision is not in the best interest of student voters, and OSPIRG will continue to campaign.
“We won’t stop getting our message out to students,” she said. “We never will.”