A Government of the Student Body Supreme Court ruling eliminated specialty seats after a reinterpretation of the results of a constitutional question in the 2001 General Election.

During the 2001 General Election, 2,582 students voted “yes” on a question that would create several changes in the infrastructure of GSB. Included in the change was the elimination of four GSB senate specialty population seats – senators who represent nontraditional students, students with disabilities, international students and American ethnic minority students.

A total of 2,320 students voted “no” on the same question. More than 1,300 students chose to abstain, resulting in a discrepancy on the term of “majority vote” on the constitutional question.

The original referendum did not pass because the majority of the 6,288 voting students did not vote “yes” on the question.

In the GSB Supreme Court case of Casey L. Harvey vs. the Government of the Student Body Election Commissioner, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that each question on a ballot is its own separate election. With this recent interpretation, the Supreme Court found the constitutional question regarding elimination of specialty population seats that failed in the 2001 General Election had actually passed with a majority vote of 2,582 to 2,320.

As a result, specialty seats no longer exist in GSB.

According to the Supreme Court document regarding Case No. 2001-04, “although the special population senate seats are directly affected by this opinion, the court must emphasize that this matter does not address the legitimacy of specialty population senate seats.”

Rick Cordaro, who presented the oral arguments for the case, said there was no correlation between the elimination of specialty population seats and the court’s ruling.

“This case is not about specialty seats,” Cordaro said.

He said it is clear in the GSB constitution that each question on a ballot is its own separate election that passes with a majority vote by the students.

“The fact of the matter is, it received more `yes’ than `no’ votes,” Cordaro said of the question.

Rafael Fernandez, international student senator, lost his seat as a result of the recent decision by the GSB Supreme Court.

“It’s a total disappointment,” Fernandez said. “Our voices are being stripped out of GSB.”

He said the specialty seats were eliminated on a technicality, and the Supreme Court did not fully consider what the consequences of their actions.

“We’re going to continue going forward,” Fernandez said. He said international students still plan to participate in GSB, although the terms of their participation are indefinite at this time.

“If there’s something this college needs, it’s diversity,” he said.

“We are a different population at Iowa State. Our status and our rights are different than any other students in college.”

Fernandez said he fears international student organizations may suffer from a lack of representation on GSB.

“Who’s going to defend these people?” Fernandez said.

Steve Skutnik, election commissioner for GSB and Daily columnist, said this is not the first time questions have arisen about the need for specialty seats.

“Ever since specialty seats have existed, there have been ideological differences on if they should exist,” Skutnik said.