To placate opposition to a bill on Internet voting, Government of the Student Body senators will propose an amendment limiting electronic elections to GSB-approved spots on campus.

Voting on the bill was postponed after a lengthy debate last week, and senators used the extra week to discuss possible amendments, increasing its appeal to dissenting members of the senate.

Electronic voting was proposed to boost voter participation in GSB elections, increase the convenience of voting and save money spent on the election process, said Rick Cordaro, UDA and author of the original bill.

The main concern about electronic voting is “block voting,” or many students voting for a particular candidate in a group. This concern sparked strong opposition among senators to electronic voting.

In an attempt to eliminate this concern, an amendment will be proposed tonight at the GSB meeting that would keep electronic voting limited to designated polling locations on campus for its first year.

As it stands now, the bill mandates that polling would take place only in “GSB-sanctioned university buildings where members of the election commission [are] stationed.”

This stipulation was added in an amendment last week, which “defeated the intent of the bill,” Cordaro said.

Cordaro wrote the amendment to satisfy both viewpoints on electronic voting, and he subsequently requested that his name be removed from the bill.

Voting would be entirely electronic but initially would take place at the secure locations, limiting the possibility of discreet block voting. After one year, the senate would review the process and decide whether to expand polling to the Internet.

“It gives power back to the senate and keeps open the possibility of electronic voting,” Cordaro said.

These changes would amend the bylaws, requiring a two-thirds majority vote. However, if the bill is passed, the bylaws would not have to be amended each year.

“The senate won’t have to change the bylaws, but they would have to approve the election code every year,” said T.J. Schneider, RCA. “It is up to senate discretion.”

The Government of the Student Body will meet tonight at 7 in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union. The following will be discussed:

Seating bills

• A bill to seat Heather Dubinshas as a Supreme Court Associate Justice. By Olson and Jason Shenton.

• A bill to seat Michel Pogge as election commissioner. By Wisher, Borre and others.

• A bill to seat Gregory Tew as an engineering college senator. By Golding and Herr.

Old business

• A bill to ratify the 1999-2000 contract with the Student Union Board for student office space. By Olson and Wisher.

• A bill to ratify the Funding and Operations Agreement with the Dean of Students Office for the office of Off Campus and Adult Student Services. By Olson and Wisher.

• A bill to ratify the Operations Agreement for Student Legal Services with the Dean of Students Office. By Olson and Wisher.

• A bill to implement electronic voting into the election process. By Olson, Hemesath and others.

• A funding bill to allocate $5,600 to the Iowa State Computation Center for the development and implementation of a computer code for electronic voting. By Cordaro, Olson and others.

• A funding bill to allocate $4,500 for the purchase of a four-passenger golf cart for use in the Safety Escort Service.

New business

• A bill to refine the position of election commissioner in the bylaws. By Weaver, Wisher and others.

• A bill to establish a procedure for contract negotiation and implementation between GSB and other entities. By Pogge, Wisher and others.

• A bill to set the 2000-2001 asset funding priorities. By Doorenbos, Nimmer and others.

• A bill to adopt priorities of funding for programs and organizations for the 2000-2001 fiscal year. By Nimmer, Doorenbos and others.