Three A.S. elections candidates who had filed appeals to the elections committee asking to be reinstated in the race were denied their requests prior to the end of winter quarter.
The three, along with three others that opted not to appeal, had been disqualified for having filed for candidacy belatedly. The candidates appealing were Todd Tolin, vying for the position of Commissioner of Diversity Affairs; Daniel Gonzales, for Revelle College sophomore senator; and Billy Ikosipentarhos, for Thurgood Marshall College junior senator.
The high number of disqualified candidates comes amidst a race with a low candidate turnout, with numerous candidates running unopposed.
It is also the first year that any candidates have appealed decisions, according to A.S. Council adviser Paul DeWine.
“”The elections committee went above and beyond the call of duty to look at the circumstances,”” DeWine said.
Disqualified candidates were allowed to submit a one-page explanation stating their case to the A.S. elections committee. According to elections manager Robin Shelton, the committee made its decision sticking strictly to the elections bylaws, which states that all candidates had to turn in their complete candidacy packet, which includes the signatures needed to run, by noon on the designated due date.
“”Unless there’s some explanation that’s out of the ordinary, the committee traditionally tries to follow the elections bylaws as closely as possible,”” DeWine said. “”If they don’t, they’re leaving themselves open to problems in other areas of the bylaws.””
Some of the candidates whose appeals were denied, however, suggested that other options could have been pursued.
“”The fact of the matter is that this is one of the lowest turnouts of candidates in A.S. elections, and I thought the elections committee could take that a little more into consideration,”” Ikosipentarhos said.
Ikosipentarhos, whose candidacy packet was submitted about two and a half hours late, said that he forgot the time for filing with A.S., but felt that since he had filed in time with his college, he should be allowed to be reinstated as a senator candidate.
“”I’m a Marshall senator first, then an A.S. senator,”” Ikosipentarhos said.
He said that he was looking into revising the bylaws to allow the elections committee to take a closer look at the circumstances of a case.
“”Even though the bylaws are there for judgment calls, that was a bad judgment call,”” Ikosipentarhos said.
Gonzales, who was attending a United States Student Association conference at time of filing, had submitted only part of his packet before leaving and did not turn in the rest of the packet until later that evening, prompting the elections committee to deem his case as “”late”” and not “”incomplete,”” in which exceptions were made if candidates could not immediately complete their packet due to “”legitimate”” circumstances. According to Gonzales, the elections committee was just in following the bylaws, but he suggested that a preferable option would be to have a write-in on the ballot for the late candidates to still be allowed to run.
According to Shelton, this could only be feasible next year if the A.S. Council decided to propose such a change.
“”Right now, we will only apply the current bylaws,”” Shelton said.
Tolin was unavailable for comment at press time.
Other late candidates who chose not to appeal were Gabe Grossman, vying for the position of A.S. president; Raul Perez, for vice president of finance; and Emily Rich, for a senatorial position.
