Will Rehling '86-'96, a council member who has been active in the planning of the bylaws package, said that the change to popular elections for council officers is the most important reform the council has ever enacted.
"We want it to work well. We want it to be impeccable. We want to make sure candidates have time to properly debate. We want to make sure no one can buy the elections," Rehling said.
Council members are of divided opinion about many of the specifics for the bylaws changes, but most agree there are a number of key issues aside from the timing of elections which need to be resolved.
The council decided last spring that there should be a spending cap for candidates but has yet to determine how high the cap should be, how money could be spent, how the cap should be enforced or if the council should fund the elections.
The nomination process for candidates has not been yet specified. Last spring the council decided candidates should be members of the council, but many are debating whether or not non-members should be allowed to run.
Another major issue is electronic voting. For the first time, first-years were allowed to vote via e-mail in the council's general elections this fall and posted record voter turnouts.
According to Blais, expanding this option to the entire campus will take major negotiations with the administration, which in turn will take time.
Elizabeth A. Haynes '98, former chair of the Student Affairs Committee, said she felt many of these issues could have been resolved by now if council executives had made it a higher priority this semester.
"We have a different set of leaders this semester and it hasn't been really high on their list," Haynes said.
In addition, Haynes warned that elections need to take place soon for them to be effective.
"The longer we wait, the lower voter turnout is going to be, and without high turnout, we're not going to be any better off than we were before," she said.
Wesley B. Gilchrist '98, a member of the council's Campus Life Committee, said the major turnover of council members that occurred this fall may have to do with the apparent lack of interest in bringing forth the bylaws changes.
"The majority of the U.C. is new," Gilchrist said. "It's not that they aren't concerned with it, it's just that they didn't have anything to do with it passing."
The new focus of the council has been a partial reason for the delay of elections, Blais said.
"Engaging in a prolonged debate on the council floor would have taken away from many other important issues we have discussed this semester," Blais said.
According to Hyman, no matter what happens with specific bylaws issues, the council will hold popular elections this year.
"In the end we will come up with a good package that will serve the students well," Hyman said. "I'm not worried.