In special election, AMS omnibus bylaw referendum fails for the third time

The AMS bylaws amendments referendum did not pass after failing to meet quorum in the VPAUA special election.

The referendum failed in the 2019 AMS general elections and again in the 2020 general elections, making this the third time the AMS has tried and failed to pass the referendum that would abolish student court, extend AMS membership to carry over to the second semester and would allow the AMS to create a confidentiality policy to limit the release of certain records.

In order to pass, the referendum would have to reach a quorum of 4,647 yes votes. 1,677 students voted yes and 1,083 voted no, falling short of quorum by slightly under 3,000 votes.

“Moving forward we want to ensure that we’re taking a look at … how we campaign and engage with the student body around this very important referendum,” AMS President Chris Hakim said following the announcements of the results.

He said they need to ensure that they are communicating to students that this referendum is “important to them” in that the AMS would be able to keep important documents confidential and continue to prove “affordable options through strong negotiations.”

“This is work that will be carried over into next year but we definitely need to ensure that this work continues,” said Hakim.