WGXC-90.7 FM
Regents amends voting procedures after FOIL violation
Keshia Clukey (CLUE-kee) is reporting at Politico New York the state Board of Regents violated the Freedom of Information Law when it voted to elect its new chancellor and vice chancellor in April. At the April meeting, each Regent was asked to record his or her vote on a piece of paper. The papers were collected and tallied, and the results were announced publicly. However, a breakdown of how each Regent voted was not released, nor were those votes entered into the record. Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa, the beneficiary of the flawed vote, said Thu., Jul. 7, “I think the people have a right to know how people vote and that’s a public obligation. We should always feel comfortable and courageous enough with whatever our vote is that we should take it in a public space.” The violation came to light when a member of the news media submitted a FOIL request asking for the vote breakdown. Under the law, the board was obligated to maintain a record of how each member voted. The violation does not impact the outcome or validity of the vote. Following the board's June meeting, the members were asked to affirm how they voted, and those results were posted in the minutes. Rosa received 15 of the 17 votes cast. Read the full story at Politico New York.