A judicial court hearing will take place on April 13 or 15 to hear a complaint placed against the Associated Students (A.S.) elections committee.
The complaint, filed by Audrey Younna, campaign manager for the A-Team slate during elections, is directed toward the elections committee who she says violated their own code by not disqualifying the Student for Change slate after a member of their campaign, Jackie Guzman, neglected to stop distribution of fliers.
Guzman was disqualified from the run-off after violating the elections committee’s ruling to restrict the Students for Change slate from passing out fliers between 10:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. The restriction was a form of punishment after the slate passed out stickers despite the ruling of the committee.
‘She was passing out campaign material for the entire slate, Students for Change, and not just herself, which, as a clear violation of the Elections Committee sanction, should not only disqualify Miss Guzman from the election, but the entire slate as well,’ Younna’s complaint read.
Younna said she is dissatisfied with the way the elections committee has handled this election and their inability to follow the code.
‘I’m just trying to do the right thing,’ she said after explaining that she is aware that her complaints may upset some people.
Abel Pacheco, the president-elect pending Senate approval and confirmation of election results, doesn’t believe the complaint filed by Younna is valid. However, he said she is free to voice her opinion.
‘The A-Team campaign is doing what they think is in their best interest, which I respect,’ he added.
Pacheco said, ‘the students have voiced their opinion and I believe that choice should be respected,’ in regards to the idea of his slate being disqualified based on the actions of former slate member Guzman.
Pacheco said Guzman’s disqualification is ‘unfortunate’ and the conversation he had with Guzman to discuss her removal is a private matter.
Younna’s complaint stated that the elections committee ruled that the Students for Change slate were banned from using stickers for the run-off election. After the hearing, Abel Pacheco, the unofficial president-elect, was given permission by Director of Elections Mazen Hafez to get the stickers approved through the Matador Involvement Center.
Hafez later notified Pacheco that his approval was misguided and the stickers could not be used.
In her complaint, Younna rhetorically asked, ‘Is it not the responsibility of the Elections Committee as well as the Director of Elections to uphold the code?’
The elections code reads, ‘failure of any candidate and/or slate to carry out the decisions and judgements of the Elections Committee, within a twenty-four (24) hour period of the posting of the formal results of the hearing, will result in disqualification of all said candidate(s) and/or slate(s) from the ballot.’
Of the candidates that running of the Students for Change slate eight of them won during last week’s elections leaving the run-off elections for the president, vice president and AMC seats open.
The AMC seat was still open was due to an error by the elections committee that left one of the AMC candidates out of the ballot.
Pacheco is looking forward to getting started on his campaign promises despite the possible disqualification that may occur during the judicial hearing.
‘Once the complaint is over and I’m’ still to be elected student president I’ll do my best even before day one,’ he said.
