Students will have to wait even longer to vote in the Illinois Student Association referendum if a recent SA Supreme Court opinion is followed.

The opinion stated that to have a Nov. 28 referendum, the SA Constitution requires a petition with at least 1,225 (5 percent of students) signatures before that date.

The referendum will decide whether or not students will continue to pay a $1 fee to keep NIU’s membership in the student lobbying group based in Springfield.

In light of the findings, the court suggested in the unanimous opinion that the voting date be postponed to the spring elections which are not scheduled.

“The language (in the SA Constitution) is so explicit that we felt it left no room for question,” the statement said.

The SA Constitution states that “students have the sole right to initiate a petition” to the SA senate with petitions “bearing 5 percent of the members of the NIU student body.”

The court opinion will be discussed at the next SA senate meeting Sunday to decide if the current date will be postponed until next semester, said Tom Ellett, NIU’s ISA field representative.

However, senators already are talking about setting the new date along with next semester’s executive board elections, Ellett said.

“I think tying it in with spring election is a good idea,” he said, predicting more publicity and a better voter turnout.

owever, pushing the referendum to next semester might be too late for the Presidential Fee Study Committee which reviews any possible fee changes, said Barbara Henley, Vice President of Student Affairs.

“That possibility always exists,” Henley said.

She said the committee usually meets in March, while last year’s elections were held in April. SA Elections Commissioner Alfred Tatum could not be reached to determine the spring election date.

Ellett said the postponement should not be a problem since it would only be a matter of removing an existing fee if the referendum fails.

The court also determined the following referendum question would be appropriate:

“Shall Northern Illinois University students continue financial support and membership in the Illinois Student Association through an annual one dollar per student refundable fee collected over the next two years from student tuition?”