New election ordered for board of governors
Election appeal committee invalidates results saying candidate unfairly compromised ‘voting booth.’
Registrar Robert Hensley says campaign rules need to be reformed. MATT DIMERA/The Runner
By Matt DiMera
[news editor]
A new election for a student representative on the board of governors (BOG) will be held online on April 18 and 19, after an election appeal committee ruled the results of the March election partially invalid.
In an e-mail sent to all of the BOG candidates, the registrar and chief returning officer, Robert Hensley announced the official decisions of the election appeal committee.
Robert Mumford who received the most votes in the March election will be considered elected, but the second student seat will be voted on again.
In an interview with the Runner, Hensley refused to provide details about the nature of the allegations or the names of the candidates involved, citing confidentiality. However, according to Hensley’s email, a formal complaint was filed by Kassandra Linklater against Keri Van Gerven alleging economic advantage and unethical influence on voters.
The appeal committee ruled that Van Gerven did not violate the fair play rules by using financial resources, but did rule against her on the second charge of unethical influence.
The committee said that during an online election, a laptop or computer could be considered a voting booth and that Van Gerven’s campaigning had compromised the integrity of the vote.
According to Hensley, only the original candidates will be allowed to run again if they so choose and the official list will be formally announced on Monday, April 11.
The committee also ruled that no candidate will be allowed to “use or provide any electronic media device to any voter during the two day election period.”
Hensley also says that the rules will need to be adjusted and clarified before next year’s senate and board elections, since the old rules were written for physical voting booths and not the current online system.
