ASUO is the Associated Students of the University of Oregon; the group provides different types of development for its members to fulfill interests within the University of Oregon. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
The Associated Students of the University of Oregon announced the results of its winter special election Wednesday afternoon, with students voting “yes” on both proposed measures. The voting, which spanned from Feb. 12 to 14, had a total of 1,476 participants.
Ballot measure one passed with 71.74% of the vote and measure two was passed with 54.84% of the vote
Measure one removed language regarding the Erb Memorial Union and the EMU board from ASUO’s constitution. This measure was proposed because EMU funding is now supplied by the Student Union Fee, not by the ASUO controlled Incidental Fee. Therefore, the EMU is no longer ASUO’s responsibility and under control of the UO administration.
The passing of measure one amends all language in the ASUO constitution to match the new financial landscape. In addition, the three ASUO board Senate positions responsible for the EMU will become part of the ASUO finance committees. The EMU board at-large positions will be eliminated.
According to ASUO, measure two will eliminate contracted service providers that are not legally affiliated with the University of Oregon from obtaining funding from ASUO through referendums and initiatives.
“We fund eight contracts… only outside service providers can utilize [referendum funding] as a mechanism for funding,” said ASUO Finance Senator Natalie Hawkins. “Only one program has ever utilized referendum funding in the past.” That program is OSPIRG.
In the days leading up to the election, members of OSPIRG, a student activist organization, held campaigns outside the EMU asking students to vote “no” on measure two. The measure eliminates OSPIRG funding through the referendum process and goes into effect immediately.
“The special election was definitely a heated race this year, but the student body handled it well and I’m glad they had the chance to voice their opinions,” said ASUO Elections Board Commissioner Grigorii Malakhov in a press release on Wednesday. “We’ve had a great number of people who voted, but there is still work to be done for the spring election to increase that number even more.”
All 23,202 UO students who pay the I-Fee were eligible to vote, putting overall election turnout at approximately 6%.
*This is a developing story and will be updated.
