Princeton Undergraduate Student Government

This article aims to clarify the results of Referendum IV (USG concert and social funds budget item) and Referendum V (USG Senate Pilot Programs budget item). The results PDF for the referenda has been updated to be clearer with respect to these referenda.

As a result of the Single Transferable Voting mechanism, the USG concert and social funds budget (Referendum IV) will be dedicated towards student-initiated service projects.

This was the process behind the Single Transferable Voting (STV) mechanism for Referendum IV:

• In the first round of tabulation, 1008 students ranked "student-initiatied service projects" first, 941 students ranked "I would not like to donate these funds" first, and 465 students ranked "Annual Giving" first.
• Since no majority was reached based on first choices, the option of "Annual Giving" was dropped from future consideration according to the STV algorithm.  Of those who ranked "Annual Giving" first, their second choice votes were then distributed to the two remaining options as an "instant run off."
  
• In this second round of tabulation, 1387 voters preferred "student-initiated service projects" while 1011 voters preferred "I would not like to donate these funds." (The total number of votes do not add up to the number of first choice votes cast because there were voters who omitted specifying certain preferences on the elections ballot.)
• As a result of this process of Single Transferable Voting, the option of "student-initiated service projects" gained a majority over "I would not like to donate these funds" and was declared the winner.
  

Please e-mail Sophie Jin with any further concerns over the elections process.

The referenda which appear in the 2009 USG Spring Election are listed below:

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