All but two fees pass AMS Fall Referendum

The AMS Fall Referendum concluded Nov. 15 with an 11.4 per cent turnout rate. This marked a 1.9 per cent increase in voter turnout from the 2021 AMS Fall Referendum.

Voting commenced at midnight on Nov. 14, with the ballot containing numerous questions on club fee establishments and continuations. Once established, club fees must be reviewed every three years. Some approved fees are mandatory, others are subject to individual opt-out.

AMS Chief Electoral Officer Nate Feldman told The Journal questions receiving less than 60 per cent ‘yes’ votes did not pass referendum this year. This is due to the sliding scale used when voter turnout is below 20 per cent, per AMS policy. 

The first question on the ballot was on the Health Sciences Society (HSS) ratification as a faculty society. This question passed with 88.4 per cent of voters voting ‘yes.’ With this vote, HSS gains equal footing with other faculty societies such as the Engineering Society (EngSoc) and the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS).

The CFRC Radio fee passed by a small margin, with 60.4 per cent of voters voting in the affirmative. The $8.72 non-mandatory fee, established in 1976, will continue for the next three years. 

Along with CFRC, Queen’s First Aid (QFA), Canadian Association for Research in Regenerative Medicine, the Kingston Canadian Film Festival all passed triennial review. 

The Queen’s Conference on Education, Queen’s International Affairs Association, QueensEvents Project, Lyme Disease Coalition Madoc’s Chapter fee, Queen’s Soul Food, TedXQueensU, Queen’s Aero Design Team, and NeuGeneration fees all passed referendum. Each of these triennial review fees passed with varying fee rates and votes in the affirmative. 

The AMS Food Bank mandatory fee of $2 passed with 87.2 per cent of individuals voting in support. 

Two fee questions did not pass this round of Fall Referendum. One fee was the Concrete Toboggan team which received 59.3 per cent of yes votes. The Exhibit Change fee of $0.15 failed to pass with 57.9 per cent of ‘yes’ votes.