ASM’s Union, living-wage referenda to be rerun this fall

After a long and heated campaign, Associated Students of Madison election referenda concerning the future of the Wisconsin Union and “living wages” for some limited-term employees (LTEs) will be rerun this fall.

In an initial set of results, the living-wage measure passed, while the Wisconsin Union Facilities Improvement Plan (WUFIP) failed.

However, the Division of Information Technology detected significant balloting and tabulation errors in several phases of the election. ASM’s Student Election Commission decided to invalidate the referenda results and move ahead with a paper ballot election for Student Council seats.

The two measures will appear again on fall student ballots.

At stake was WUFIP, the current student-led effort to upgrade facilities and improve working conditions in Memorial Union and to build a new, environmentally sustainable south campus union. The second referendum would have attempted to raise wages to $10.23 for LTEs in certain campus units.

At this time, the cause of the problem is still unknown, DoIT director Annie Stunden said.

However, the volume of student votes, the complexity of the write-in vote system and an older software application all contributed to a series of election problems. It is unclear whether electronic elections will be held again in the future.