A lack of interest caused 98.6 percent of Iowa State students to forego their voting rights on a new Government of the Student Body constitution, said senators at the last GSB meeting.

The Jan. 22 election drew just 365 students, 56 percent of whom were graduate students. Results show 151 students voted in favor of the bill, while 214 voted against it.

The bill required a 20 percent voter approval, but “never in history have 20 percent been out to vote,” said Mike Pogge, LAS.

A debatable part of the new constitution included the Articles of Cooperation, the funding source for the Graduate Student Senate.

Mike Poray, GSS, said if passed, the new constitution would have eliminated the Articles of Cooperation. He said he sent an e-mail message to all graduate students, explaining the issue and urging them to vote against the bill.

“GSS couldn’t exist without the Articles of Cooperation,” Poray said. “We didn’t want to file an appeal [if the vote had passed], but instead work things out in a friendly manner.”

Some GSB senators criticized Poray for his absence when the Constitutional Convention approved the constitution.

Other senators blamed the students themselves for voter apathy.

“Something is fundamentally wrong,” said Yasmin Blackburn, off-campus. “Either [the students] don’t care, or they don’t want it.”

Poray said measures should be taken to avoid low voter turnouts.

“We need to be more concerned with the lack of voting. If we give in to apathy, we’re not doing our job,” he said. “We have to answer to a higher authority as student leaders.”

GSB made numerous attempts last April to garner more votes on the constitution by heavily publicizing it. Plus, more voting locations throughout campus were made accessible, including a booth on Welch Avenue during Veishea.

Despite the effort, only 3.7 percent of the students voted in April.

“It’s the same document each time, and there is no valid student turnout,” Poray said.

“We need to be more concerned with why,” he said.

Pogge said low voter turnout is a trend at most universities.

The issue of on-line voting was deemed a possible solution to the problem because of the Access Plus information system.

Although the system would be convenient because terminals are located throughout campus, Matthew Ostanik, design, said the idea needed in-depth investigation.

GSB members discussed the disadvantages of an on-line voting system, noting that the system might present a lack of voter security.

“It’s very difficult to regulate,” Pogge said. “There are loopholes that can’t break away from breech of election.”

John Hamilton, business, said the system may tempt some students to vote dishonestly, particularly under other students’ names.

In other news:

• Elizabeth Andre was seated director of lectures, arts and entertainment.

• Jennifer Spencer, freshman in journalism and mass communication, was seated at-large alternate finance committee member.