Shaking with excitement, Twister Murchison (SFS ‘08) was sworn in as GUSA president Tuesday night. The event ended three weeks of confusion over who would occupy the executive position but left behind unanswered questions about GUSA’s efficacy and legitimacy.
Murchison and his vice-president, Salik Ishtiaq (SFS ‘07), took office after the GUSA Assembly certified the Feb. 16 election, a reversal of its previous decision, on Feb. 28, not to certify the election.
Their ticket won 38.5 percent of the vote. Rival candidates Khalil Hibri (SFS ‘07) and Geoff Greene (SFS ‘07) gathered 45.9 percent of the vote, but they were disqualified for campaign practice violations.
While the Election Appeals Board, an independent appeals commission, upheld the election, the Assembly failed to certify the results, citing concerns that the Election Commission had violated procedure during the election process.
At the same meeting, the Assembly recommended new elections, for which no constitutional guidelines exist. According to Assembly Chair Ed Duffy (SFS ‘07) and other officials, GUSA Assembly members agreed to meet with the Election Commission to discuss options for a new vote. But the Election Commission, a body independent from GUSA, withdrew from the process.
“We feel we had a valid and fair election, therefore we were not going to hold another election,” Election Commissioner Benita Sinnarajah (NHS ‘06) wrote in an e-mail to The Voice.
Sinnarajah provided the Assembly with a statement, which explained the Election Commission’s reasoning behind the Hibri/Greene disqualification. This gave Assembly members an opportunity to reconsider certification and, after almost an hour and a half of debate, certify the election in a six to five vote. Murchison and Ishtiaq, both assembly members, abstained.
The original controversy sprung from the Hibri/Greene campaign’s use of laptop computers to help students vote in the cafeteria, a move forbidden by the Election Commission but apparently authorized by Sinnarajah in an election-day phone call with Greene.
Despite Sinnarajah’s decision, the Election Commission argued that the original violation of the rule deserved disqualification.
Both campaigns have since agreed that the campaign was run fairly, and there have been no allegations against the Murchison/Ishtiaq ticket.
Freshman representative Anthony Bonna (MSB ‘09) was a strong voice in favor of new elections, arguing that the student body would not respect an institution that denied the winners of the popular vote office on the basis of procedural arguments.
“I feel bad for GUSA,” Hibri said. “I hope people cooperate with Twister, because you have to get things done.”
Hibri’s running mate was more vehement.
“I’m sorry to say this institution has lost any scrap of legitimacy,” Greene said. “That’s the lesson of this election.”
Minutes after being sworn in, Murchison lost his normal loquaciousness when asked for his reaction to the evening’s events. He later recognized, however, the challenges his new administration faces.
“I think legitimacy is a chronic problem for GUSA,” Murchison said. “The way to combat the problem is results and good communication. We understand the subtleties of the situation that we’re in, and we’re very much looking forward to getting as much work done as possible with as many people involved as possible, including some of those who disagree with us.”
