Despite a complaint, the results of a referendum on a new $73-million recreation centre at the University of Windsor will stand.
University alumnus Mohammad Akbar complained the Graduate Students' Society violated its bylaws by not giving students enough time to weigh their options in the vote. He filed a complaint with Chief Returning Officer April Adams, but Adams says the vote was valid and there won't be a re-vote.
"We only needed 14 days for notice, and we actually gave them 16 days," says Adams. "We followed all of the protocol that is requested under the GSS [constitution]."
Adams says she'll review the complaint with the society's board, but she's certain the vote was legal, and no rules were broken.
"What he's, I think, comparing this to is an actual election," she says. "You have a nomination period, a campaign period, a voting period, and a referendum is not held that way."
She will review the constitution's wording. However, the vote is irrefutable since there's not even a complaint process for referendums.
"Once a referendum is brought out to the public, it stands," says Adams. "It can not be turned down because of a complaint."
Adams says the question is valid too since it was the same one brought to members a year ago. At that time, members voted against building a recreation centre.
— With files from Ricardo Veneza.
