Two weeks ago we endorsed Jeff Pertl for chair of United Council. While we disagree with him on many issues, we reasoned that a UW-Madison alumnus would be a welcome addition to an organization that has priorities frequently at odds with the unique needs of UW-Madison.

Of course, an even better alternative would be to withdraw from United Council and have ASM lobby state government directly. Unfortunately, the ASM powers-that-be just denied students the chance to choose this option, violating their own bylaws.

Part Five, Article Three, Section Two of ASM’s bylaws makes the question of continued UW-Madison representation in United Council a standing referendum. This referendum “shall be held in the spring of every even-numbered year and shall automatically be placed on the ballot by the [Student Election Commission] Chair.” As the 12.2 percent of students who voted in last week’s ASM elections know, this did not take place.

Unfortunately, this oversight by Student Judiciary (which oversees election) is no surprise — consider the other branches of student government. Student council has muddled through this last year without a purpose and has been silent on several major student issues, and SSFC doubled their portion of tuition; Student Judiciary probably felt left out of the incompetent club.

We know this was an honest mistake — the same thing happened in 2000. But if ASM wants to address the big issues on campus, they had best start by getting the little things right.