Adam Giblin (CAS ‘06) and Eric Lashner (CAS ‘05) were declared the winners of the Georgetown University Student Association election on Monday after the Election Commission disqualified Kelley Hampton (SFS ‘05) and Luis Torres (CAS ‘05) from the race.
Hampton and Torres vowed to contest the fines that led to their disqualification. “We definitely will appeal,” Hampton said. The appeal will go to the GUSA Election Commission and, if the Commission rejects it, to the Constitutional Council. The GUSA General Assembly must then certify the election results. 10 of the 16 assembly members endorsed Hampton-Torres in the election.
Hampton and Torres would have won with 36.3 percent of the vote. “I’m very pleased that we won the popular vote,” Hampton said. The runners-up, Giblin and Lashner, were declared the official winners with 32.3 percent. Josh Green (SFS ‘06) and Lauren Butts (SFS ‘06) came in third with 20.1 percent, and Chris Schmitter (SFS ‘06) and Dave Hartzler (CAS ‘06) gained 5.8 percent. Write-in candidates gained 5.2 percent of the vote, including the ever-popular Chicken Madness.
The Hampton-Torres ticket was fined for placing flyers inside copies of The Hoya in Harbin Hall and Village C, which put them over the budget of $75. Hampton says they inserted flyers inside the newspaper because it unfairly represented their platform. The Hoya endorsed Giblin and Lashner.
Hampton said the Election Commission approved the placing of the flyers. When she learned this was illegal, however, she said she and Torres removed the flyers immediately, although some had already been taken. “They said it was fine. It’s something I would not have done if they had not said it was OK,” Hampton said.
The incident’s two 10 dollar fines, Torres said, sent them over budget by four dollars, resulting in their disqualification. The candidates do not understand why the violation was counted twice. “There are certain things that we feel were double-counted,” Torres said.
“Basically it came from the Election’s Commission’s interpretation of ‘unsolicited campaign materials,’” Vickram Agrawal (SFS ‘07), the Hampton-Torres campaign manager, said.
Some members of the Hampton-Torres team thought that their campaign had been unfairly targeted for fines. “The Election Commission has been out to screw them for the whole week,” said Jack Ternan (CAS ‘04), the chairman of the GUSA Assembly.
Agrawal, however, said that the campaign was determined to appeal the decision. “I honestly think we have a great chance of succeeding,” he said.
At the announcement Monday night, Hampton and Torres were visibly shaken while Giblin and Lashner were relieved. “I’m overwhelmed, I’m excited, and I’m also saddened by Kelley and Luis’ disqualification,” Lashner said. “I hope that they stay involved with GUSA, because they are people that have changed the school.”
