The West Virginia University Student Government Association Judicial Board should move to disqualify PIRATE Party Governor-elect Ahmad Alashi if it’s deemed an agent working on Alashi’s behalf used the Office of International Students and Scholars listserv to make an endorsement.
Currently, the Judicial Board is reviewing whether or not any SGA Elections Code violation affected the outcome of the recent election.
The e-mail was sent to more than 1,000 students.
With gubernatorial elections won by a handful of votes, it would be difficult to believe the e-mail didn’t play a factor in the vote.
According to the SGA Elections Code, it matters not whether the outcome of the election was affected but if a violation was committed.
Appendix Five, Section 1-J. states:
"Candidates are not allowed to place campaign materials on any University server or use any University-sponsored listserv. This includes, but is not limited to, telnet sites, gophers and WVU-hosted World Wide Web pages."
The international student listserv is University-sponsored.
Thus, if an agent of Alashi’s sent the e-mail, it was Alashi’s responsibility to prevent such actions, and the proper penalty should be dealt, as included in Article VII, Part H, Section D-1:
"If an agent of a candidate or candidates has committed a violation of this Election Code, and if the candidate(s) ordered the agent to commit the act in violation or knew of the agent’s act of violation and failed to take steps to prevent it, then the Judicial Board may view the act in violation as thought the candidates(s) personally committed the act. The Judicial Board thus may implicate the guilt to the candidate(s) and will impose the proper penalty or penalties ... "
If the five other individuals elected also committed violations, they too should be disqualified.
Where there is smoke, there is typically fire. If the action’s of individuals or supporters acting on their behalf altered the outcome of the SGA election, they should not be certified.
It’s time to move down the list and allow those candidates who came up short but have yet to violate the election code the opportunity to represent the student body.
Without certification, SGA remains in a state of limbo – no one is working in the interests of WVU students.
It’s time for the Judicial Board to make a decision. The University community is waiting.
9 comments
The DA's new slogan should be "manufacturing controversy since 1887".