Candidates protest KSA byelection results
Two candidates say the elected Surrey campus representative broke KSA rules by exceeding the allowable campaign expense amount and bribed students for votes
KSA President Armaan Dhillon speaks with Amitoj Singh about the protest. (Kyler Emerson)
Amitoj Singh, a candidate in the Kwantlen Student Association byelection, organized a protest of the official results outside the society’s office on Surrey campus on Nov. 15 at 2:00 pm. About 20 students joined the protest.
Amitoj ran against Jaspreet Shokar and Abdullah Randhawa for the position of Surrey campus representative. Randhawa was elected with 881 votes, with runners-up Amitoj with 726 and Shokar with 322. Amitoj says Randhawa exceeded the campaign expense limit by paying in cash for paid promotions online.
“[The protest] is about the unfair election … the opponent party spent around $15,000 to $20,000 on the elections,” Amitoj says.
The Runner reached out to the KSA for confirmation on campaign expenses by the candidates, but did not receive a response by publication time. According to KSA Regulations, candidates have a $75 limit for campaign expenses.
Amitoj handed out printed screenshots at the protest from the Instagram account @kpu_de_heerey, which showed Randhawa’s campaign poster with the hashtag #PAIDPROMOTION.
Amitoj also printed a screenshot of Instagram messages he had with the owner of the account, who told him one Instagram story cost $80 and four stories cost $200 and accepted cash or e-transfer for payment.
“When I contacted them, they told me everything. They sent me the screenshots, the information,” Amitoj says.
The Runner reached out to the Instagram account for comment, but did not receive a response by publication time.
Amitoj also says Randhawa took students to the Chef Balram Bali restaurant.
“They took all the guys to the parties in the Balram restaurant…. There were 25 students taken [there] for four days, and [fees] are $100, and 25 students means $2,500 [before] taxes,” he says. “Total would be $10,000 before taxes for four days.”
“Because the money was paid mostly in cash, the [KSA] don’t have the proof. But we know what is going on and every student knows what is going on.”
Shokar also attended the protest and says Randhawa had bribed his friends during the campaign period.
“He told me he was supporting me [and] suddenly he becomes a candidate. Then slowly he starts to bribe my friends of the group,” Shokar says, adding that his friends told him Randhawa took them out to parties.
“Even some of my friends [said Randhawa] gave some students $25 or $75 to vote for him. Nobody’s coming out [to protest] because their mouths are shut, so this is a protest about this,” he says.
Amitoj emailed the KSA Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Ron Laufer during the campaign period, who, Amitoj says, told him to submit invoices.
“I gave them all the proof regarding this…. I said the money was taken as a cash out, how can I give proof, how can I give invoices? It’s not a fair election,” Amitoj says.
He says over 40 students who contacted him also emailed the CRO with complaints about having to forcefully change their vote.
“A number of individuals raised concerns with the election process this year, though no official complaints were received. I received numerous emails from members stating that multiple candidates were ‘forcing’ voters to cast ballots or change their votes after having already cast for a different candidate. While such things may have occurred, I was presented with little to no evidence and thus did not take action,” reads the CRO’s final report on the byelection.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University student Gurfateh Singh attended the protest because he felt Randhawa pressured him to change his vote.
“We are mutual friends, so I met with [Randhawa] and he told me [that] one more vote doesn’t make a difference so you kindly change your vote,” Gurfateh says.
“And he confessed in front of me that he gave $10 to the Instagram page for the promotions,” he adds.
He says he changed his vote from Shokar to Randhawa in front of Randhawa, but changed his vote back after their meeting.
KSA President Armaan Dhillon, who was in the office during the protest, told Amitoj and his supporters to email council2@kusa.ca with their concerns.
“Our CRO is no [longer] contracted with the KSA, so now the decision making body is council and you can send an email to council with all supporting documents … we will always try to resolve issues,” Dhillon said.
In an email response to The Runner, Dhillon said the allegations need to be reviewed by the council and could not comment further.
“He told me to email again, and we have already emailed but [didn’t] get any reply. If we do not get any reply, we will protest again. We want a fair election, we are the students for the students,” Amitoj says.
“After each email of concern that I received I responded suggesting they may submit an official complaint and provided information on how to do so. In not one case did one of these people submit an official complaint,” reads the CRO report.
“I think we finally have some justice … for the seat to be cancelled, because if [Randhawa] wins by bribing students, in the next elections students will say ‘give us more money and then we’ll vote for you.’ So this is totally upsetting the student culture here,” Shokar says.
The Runner reached out to Randhawa for an interview but did not receive a response by publication time.
The CRO report concluded suggesting that “attention be paid to reform the elections process in the future to avoid the kinds of issues being faced in the last few years.”
The next KSA council meeting is scheduled for Dec.2 at 10:00 am in hybrid format. Students can email info@kusa.ca to join.
The Runner will provide updates as information becomes available.
