The Government of the Student Body Election Commission was charged with nonfeasance of duty March 14 after it failed to publish constitutional referendums in the Iowa State Daily prior to the recent election.

Andrew Hamilton, junior in psychology, charged the Election Commission with failure to comply with Bylaw 16.3.6 because the commission did not publish “all proposed referendums in the Iowa State Daily prior to the first polling day of any election.”

“It was my job to do this as election commissioner,” said Steve Skutnik, election commissioner and Daily columnist.

Skutnik said he was caught up with the election and failed to publish the referendums because he missed the advertisement deadline at the Daily.

The four referendums to be voted on included changes to GSB’s internal structure and its constitution, said Andrew Kothenbeutel, GSB speaker of the senate.

They included:

An order to reduce the time to register to vote in GSB specialty seat elections from six weeks to three weeks.

An order to abolish the GSB Appointments Committee.

An order to clarify the role of the Supreme Court in GSB.

An order to recognize the name change of Hawthorn Court to Frederiksen Court in the GSB Constitution.

The GSB Supreme Court ordered the results of the constitutional referendums could not be announced March 14 along with the results of GSB executive and legislative candidates because of the pending case before the court.

Skutnik said a second election on the constitutional referendums will most likely happen within the first two weeks of April. He expects voter turnout to be little more than “a blip on the radar.”

“I don’t foresee any kind of voter interest at all,” Skutnik said. “It’s not going to be an issue with most students. It’s unfortunate, but it’s reality.”

Greg Tew, GSB Chief Justice Pro Tempore, said it is important for students to vote in the second election because the issues will impact students on one level or another.

Tew also said he expects voter turnout to be low.

“The court found the importance of a fair and legal election outweighed the fact that the voter turnout would be decreased,” Tew said. “The bylaws require the text of the referendum to be published in the Daily, and the court found that hadn’t happened.”

Skutnik said the referendums were published as a hyperlink by the Iowa State Daily, but the GSB Supreme Court contended online publication was not sufficient to inform students about the election.