With campaigning over and voting underway last Thursday, the GUSA executive candidates spent the day waiting to see the results of two weeks of hard work. Three days later, presidential candidate Khalil Hibri (SFS ‘07) and his running mate, vice-presidential candidate Geoff Greene (SFS ‘07), were disqualified despite gaining the most votes. In O’Donovan Dining Hall Thursday evening, presidential candidate Twister Murchison (SFS ‘08) saw Greene asking students to vote at several laptop computers he set up at a table with a “Vote Here” sign—an action forbidden by the Election Commission. Murchison and several other students called Election Commissioner Benita Sinnarajah (CAS ‘06) to inform her of the violation. After a flurry of phone calls with Sinnarajah, Greene, believing he had her consent, continued helping students vote, leading to his disqualification. They are now appealing that decision.
Murchison and his running mate, vice-presidential candidate Salik Ishtiaq (SFS ‘07) officially won the election with 38.7 percent of the votes cast by 2,267 students. Candidates Gage Raley (COL ‘07) and Oxana Miliaeva (COL ‘07) won 7.9 percent of the electorate and write-in candidates garnered 7.5 percent of the total. Had they not been disqualified, Hibri/Greene would have won the election with a commanding 45.9 percent of votes—the largest percentage taken by a single ticket in the last five years. The Election Commission delayed the release of the results until Monday, an additional 48 hours, to address by law violations, according to Sinnarajah.
“I don’t understand why we were disqualified,” Hibri said in an interview, looking disappointed but not angry. He said that the Commission ran the election well, adding, “We want people to still have respect for the GUSA institution.”
This chronology of an election interrupted began Wednesday morning. Hibri, who said he double-checked campaign regulations religiously throughout the campaign after being disqualified for violations in last year’s Assembly race, asked the Election Commission if his campaign staff could use laptops to help students vote. Without encouraging them to support particular candidate, this get-out-the-vote technique would not violate the ban on election-day campaigning. An hour before voting began at midnight, Sinnarajah and the election commission issued a ruling in an e-mail to all official candidates forbidding the laptop technique because “there is no feasible way for you all to guarantee to us that no one on your staff would not influence people of who [sic] they should vote for.”
Greene said he did not check his e-mail before opening his informal polling place. When Sinnarajah called him in response to the violation reports, she asked him to take down his sign, but, according to Greene, said he could continue helping students vote. The Election Commission would not comment on the phone call, but a student close to the Election Commission said there was not a clear understanding of the situation in the cafeteria. Sinnarajah called Greene back just over two hours later, asking him to stop. She also asked Murchison to put his verbal complaint in writing.
The Murchison/Ishtiaq campaign submitted their complaint two hours before voting ended Thursday night. It discussed the laptop incident and several unconfirmed minor allegations, but it noted that “we are not asking for the disqualification of the Hibri/Greene ticket.”
The Hibri/Greene campaign’s appeal, submitted yesterday, attacks the timing of the disqualification procedure and argues that their actions did not significantly affect the eventual vote total; however it mainly focuses on the consent they say they obtained from Sinnarajah.
“It’s a problem when procedures aren’t followed, but I don’t see how that is related to the disqualification … I think they will [remain] disqualified,” current GUSA President Pravin Rajan (SFS ‘07) said. Rajan’s staff was able to use laptops to help voters last year without incident.
The Appeals Committee is made up of Sinnarajah, another member of the Elections Committee, the three members of the GUSA Constitutional Committee and a faculty facilitator who does not have a vote. The committee has decided to hear the appeal, and expects to issue a ruling on Monday, according GUSA procedure.
Though he would not directly comment on the disqualification, president-elect Murchison made his views clear.
“To win an election, you have to get the most votes and abide by the rules—you can’t do one or the other,” he said.
