In the recently concluded student elections that saw Jesse Wright and Alexis Marvel win the presidency and trustee positions, some votes were docked from their opponents for breaching the campaigning policies.
Although 308 votes were cast for Wright’s opponent Gary Uter, 26 of them (8.4%) were docked as a penalty, for a final count of 282. Bianca Baldassarre, Marvel’s opponent, was also docked five votes of her original 155 (3.2%) for her actions.
According to Shani Walker, USG’s Chief Justice, Uter’s campaign had posters placed in inappropriate areas. Posters are to be placed in the public bulletin boards in all campus buildings, bulletin boards in Wheatley Hall classrooms, the catwalk between McCormack Hall and the Science Building, and designated areas of the Campus Center. Posters placed anywhere else are deemed inappropriate.
Walker revealed that Baldassarre also placed posters improperly, and was not punctual about turning in expense forms.
Dan McDowell, the incumbent USG vice president and head of the elections committee, said that this method of punishment was used because “this seemed like the most democratic option, as opposed to the other alternatives which are re-doing the elections, kick[ing] the offenders off the ballots completely, or do[ing] nothing.” He explained that re-doing the elections would adversely affect voter turnout, kicking the offenders off the ballots would be too harsh, and doing nothing would be unfair to candidates who did follow the rules.
Walker added, “Putting up those inappropriate posters would have gotten [those candidates] some undeserved votes. It’s only fair that we remove those votes so there could be a level playing field for all candidates.”
