On Nov. 1 and 2, Queen’s students were able to cast email ballots for the AMS Fall Referendum.
1,877 students voted out of the 19,800 electors eligible, resulting in a voter turnout rate of 9.5 per cent.
According to the AMS Electoral Officer Erica Johnson, in cases where less than 20 per cent of the electorate have cast ballots, approval of each individual fee is subject to a sliding scale based on the total voter turnout. With a 9.5 per cent turnout rate, a fee or question needed 65 per cent support to pass in this referendum.
The Fall Referendum saw the passing of numerous student fees. Voters approved the establishment of a Step Above Stigma fee of $0.30.
The vote also established changes to existing fees with opt-out options—including a Robogals Queen’s fee of $0.25, a Friday Friends at Queen’s fee of $0.40, a Queen’s University Blood Team fee of $0.25, a Queen’s Project of International Development (QPID) fee of $2.50, a Sustainable Action Fund fee of $2.00, a Sustainable Action Fund fee of $2.00, a Queen’s Band fee of $4.15, and a Levana Gender Advocacy Centre fee of $1.00.
The Queen’s Legal Aid student fee of $0.50 increase, the establishment of a Queen’s Hellenic Student Association fee of $0.15, as well as MUSE Magazine’s $0.15 fee increase all failed to pass.
While a majority of club fees on the Fall Referendum ballot passed, an increase in the mandatory AMS membership fee from $62.11 to $78.00, and an automatic yearly increase for the JDUC Accessibility Fund of $2.50, both failed.
Tags
AMS, fall referendum, student fee
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