Whereas Article IV, Section B of the ASUCI constitution states that, “The actions of the Legislative Council shall be enacted upon a specific majority vote stipulated in the By-Laws for a particular measure,” and

Whereas it is the belief of Legislative Council that the abovementioned grants the By-Laws a supplementary role in the interpretation of the Constitution, and

Whereas the Judicial Board has exceeded its bounds in a ruling regarding “the formal hearing of R51-63 and R51-65” during their meeting on March 15, 2016, and

Whereas, it is the belief of this Legislative Council that they have exceeded their bounds in interpreting the roles and content of the Constitution and By-Laws with respect to striking down Article VII Section D of the ASUCI Bylaws: “If a council member abstains on a vote, that member is voluntarily refraining from voting. Abstentions are therefore non­votes and shall not be counted as either yes or no, but shall count in the total number of votes,” and,

Whereas by doing so, the ASUCI Judicial Board is setting a dangerous loophole as the precedence by allowing abstentions out of the needed quorum count, yet leaving vacancies and absent votes as a part of the quorum, and

Whereas such interpretation is misguided and false both in the spirit and letter of the law, and

Whereas this interpretation is not based on Robert's Rules of order, preceding rulings, or any other legal basis, and

Whereas per the inquiry of the ASUCI Executive Cabinet, the chancellor provided the following feedback on the ruling made by ASUCI Judicial Board:

"When deciding whether a vote of a legislative body has received the necessary majority (whether 50%+1 or two-thirds) there are three options:  one can require of that it be a majority of "all members present and voting", a majority of "all members submitting votes in person or by proxy", or a majority of "all members duly sworn" or duly chosen (whether or not they are present or voting). 

ASUCI Bylaws clearly prohibit proxy voting, and there is no language in the Constitution or Bylaws indicating that majority votes in the Legislative Council are calculated based on all members duly sworn or chosen rather than members participating in the vote. 

Quite the contrary: Article VII Section C of the ASUCI bylaws (on "Voting") requires that "Only seats present and exercising their right to vote shall be counted when determining majority or two-thirds (2/3) votes." This language is not ambiguous: the calculation of a simple majority or a two-thirds majority is made only on the basis of the numbers of people present and voting. If 19 people are voting (whether yea, no, or abstain) for an item requiring a simple majority then only those 19 persons will be counted in order to calculate what is necessary for a simple majority, which the vote passes with 10 yeas. The language of VII(C) requires that same approach applies in calculating the passage of items involving a two-thirds majority.

Not only is this requirement very clear; it has been the understanding and practice on the campus for as long as anyone can remember. The language is clear; the precedent is clear.

Whereas due to its weak and unsupported nature, this ruling is prone to creating a slippery slope for many of the future cases, and

Whereas Article VI, Section E of the ASUCI Constitution provides for the calling of the ASUCI Judicial Oversight Committee following a petition to ASUCI Legislative Council and a unanimous vote, and

Whereas if ASUCI as an organization wishes to maintain the legitimacy of the student body as a representative organization, Legislative Council needs to ensure that due process is followed and that we as an organization follow the rules stipulated, and

Whereas, it is in the best interest of ASUCI that this issue be resolved as quickly as possible to ensure the smooth governance of the organization, and

Let it be resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council formally disagrees with the Judicial Board Ruling on "the formal hearing of R51-63 and R51-65, made on March 15, 2016”, and

Let it further be resolved that ASUCI Legislative Council urges the Judicial Board to repeal their ruling on "the formal hearing of R51-63 and R51-65” to base the definition of 2/3 majority to that as currently outlined in the By-Laws, as an appropriate means of interpreting the ASUCI constitution.

Let it be finally resolved that the Legislative Council activate a Judicial Oversight Committee to review the action of the ASUCI Judicial Board.