http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/upimage/VF_I18B_017.pdf

Media

Part of Newspaper clippings, November 22, 1969

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BEN 11/22/69 pg. A5

UB Referendum
Reset;Irregularity
In Vote Charged
The Judici a ry Board of the
Student Association at the State
'. University of Buffalo Friday
night ordered a second referen­
dum on the allocation of student
'government funds to a Breakfast for Children program.
, Four members of the board
• "froze" the first vote on the
basis of alleged "voting irregularities" reported by Miss Anne
Clifford, election board, chairman for the Student Associat ion. :
Miss Clifford said she wit'. nessed incidents of electioneering and intimidation at the vot­
ing table Friday afternoon.
Black Students' Project
She said Yigal Josef, one of
five members of the Jud iciary
Board, instruct·ed her to "freeze
the election."
She said ballots w e re not
counted and that they were I
destroyed.
The student referendum was
set for Thursday and Friday
after a petition signed by 283
students protested the action of'
the Polity - an open meeting
•of the entire stud ent group authorizing use of $28,000 for the
Breakfast for Children program
.sp onsored by the Black Student
Union.
Asso
by-laws
cia
require
tio
a n
·referendum if requested by 2 .
per cent of the student body.
Mis•s Clifford sa id "about 200"·
names meets th is requirement.·
Empty Coffers
In ruling the referendum invalid, the Ju•diciary Board cited
:"bi partisan harassm ent on . the :
voting grounds."
T'ne board recommended that
the second referendum be administered
by the Student Co: ordinating Council, that voting
booths be used and that the
Student Association circulate
clarifying information on the
S23, 000 item.
Miss Clifford said there was ,
"widespread
misunderstanding
and lack of knowledge" among
students on " the question before
them."

Signers of the petition that
led to the referendum argued
that the $28,000 allocation left
the Student Association with ·
"almost no money" for the rest·
of the academi·c year.
Besides Mr. Josef, members
of the Judiciary Board that
ruled for a second referendum
were Berel Spivack, Miss Elaine
Cannon and Gerrit-Jan
e
Guertsen.

CEX 11/22/69 pg. 9

UBBoard

Nullifies
Funds Vote
Voting resuits of a student
/referendum held this week at
the University of Buffalo were
invalidated Friday night by the
Student Judiciary Board be­
cause of "bipartisan harass­
. ment on the voting grounds."
The referendum
was · to de­
termine students' opinion on a .
Polity decision to allocate $28,000
'of student . government funds to
a Breakfast for Children Pro- .
gram sponsored by the Black
;
Student Upjgp
The referendum was mandated by 283 students who had
submitted a petition to the Stu, dent Assn. objecting to the '
Polity approved "on the grounds ·
that it will greatly hinder the ,
ability of the Student Assn. to '
function properly, as almost no
•money will be left for the rest
of the academic year."
30 at Meeting
About 30 students attended the :
judiciary meeting Friday night
when four student justices,
Berel Spivack, Yigal Josef, ·
Eleaine Cannon and Gerrit-Jan
Geurtsen, handed down the de­
cision to invalidate the election. :
The board also recommended .
•,
·that:
-The referendum be rescheduled by the Student Co•
ordinating Council which handles .
student elections.
-Future elections be held in
voting
booths "to protect:
against electioneering."
-The Student Assn. "dissemi­
nate clear and objective information with respect to its
budget for this referendum."
emphasizing the need to speci­
fy that money allocated to the .
breakfast program go only to
.that program and not to its
sponsor, the Black Sludents
Union. .