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February 22, 2008 > News > Several candidates ruled ineligible to run, complaints filed

Several candidates ruled ineligible to run, complaints filed

By Dale Swartz | Thresher staff

For a student body used to Student Association election seasons where the most exciting events are multi-colored signs, this year’s tumultuousness has been exciting for campus politicos, if out of the ordinary.

So far, campus has seen two candidates — presidential candidate SA Parliamentarian Christopher Warrington and SA secretary candidate Luz Pimentel — declared ineligible for office. While they were removed from the ballot, three others — co-candidates for SA President Mithun Mansinghani and Zach Marshall, and candidate for RTV5 station manager Will Fischer — were placed on the ballot at the last minute. This election season has also been marked by complaints of violations of campaign rules.

Candidate Eligibility

Two weeks ago, the SA elections committee decided that Martel College senior Mithun Mansinghani and junior Zach Marshall were not eligible to appear on the elections ballot as co-candidates for SA President because they turned in their petition one day past the deadline. This decision would not have prevented them from running as write-in candidates.

Mansinghani and Marshall first appealed the decision at the Feb. 11 SA meeting, where the SA decided not to overturn the committee’s decision. The duo followed up on their appeal, forcing an unplanned SA meeting before the Thresher-RTV5 SA presidential debates. At this meeting the full SA Senate overruled its previous decision in a sharply divided vote, allowing Mansinghani and Marshall to participate in the televised presidential debate and to be placed on the ballot.

This addition to the election came immediately after SA Parliamentarian Christopher Warrington withdrew from the race in a surprising development, with Mansinghani and Marshall taking his place at the debate table.

Warrington, a Jones College junior, was ruled ineligible to run by the Elections Committee due to him being on academic probation. Warrington said he missed the final exam period of the fall semester due to surgery, and thus received “incomplete” grades in several classes. This placed him temporarily on academic probation, making him automatically disqualified from seeking campus-wide office. He is appealing to have his good academic standing reinstated by the Committee on Examinations and Standing, but the earliest he can present his appeal is Tuesday.

Since this would be well into the voting process that runs from Friday to Wednesday, Warrington said he chose to withdraw from the race.

The Senate does not have the power to reverse an ineligibility ruling if a student is not in good academic standing. Warrington did not endorse another candidate, but he said he hoped the new president would focus on one of the core issues of his platform: a heightened awareness of the students’ responsibility towards the new residential colleges.

In other races, RTV5 station manager candidate Will Fischer was barred because he is on judicial probation, but saw his overturned and was placed on the ballot. In an appeal to the full Senate, Fischer, a Will Rice junior, said he would be running unopposed, and will be the only senior next year with more than a year’s experience at Rice’s television station. A majority of the Senate voted to reinstate him on the ballot at its Monday meeting, a power it is authorized to use in cases of judicial probation.

SA Secretary contender Luz Pimentel was disqualified for taking a medical withdrawal this semester. Students who have withdrawn for medical reasons are generally ineligible to run for office. Pimentel, a Will Rice College sophomore, petitioned to Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman to reinstate her eligibility, but her request was denied.

On her Facebook campaign page, she expressed her regret at no longer being able to run for secretary.

SA elections committee chair Andrew Bowen said the number of people disqualified this year was unusually high.

“There are always people disqualified because of academic or judicial probation,” Bowen, a Martel senior, said. “But the number we’ve seen this year is a little bit higher.”

“Matt Youn Pub Night”

The weeks leading up to the election have also seen allegations of campaign rule violations, most notably one surrounding presidential candidate Matt Youn and Brown College’s pub night. Last fall, Brown decided on “Matt Youn Pub Night” for its pub night theme in honor of the current SA Internal Vice President and Brown junior.

Brown socials committee chair Patrick McAnaney said Youn was a logical choice for a theme.

“Matt Youn could almost be considered the unofficial mascot of Brown College,” McAnaney, a Brown sophomore, said.

However, due to a violation of the alcohol policy at Brown in the weeks before the planned pub night, the Brown Court and Student Judicial Programs decided to suspend pub night for the fall semester. Brown decided to carry over the “Matt Youn” theme for its spring pub night, entitled “Brown College Pub Night: the Matt Youn Experience,” which would have been held Tuesday, during the SA presidential campaign.

Last week, Bowen received a complaint from another candidate about the event’s theme. Upon investigation, Bowen found that the event violated two rules. First, because it carried Youn’s name, it was deemed to be an event promoting a candidate, which is prohibited in SA elections. Second, SA candidates are limited to a campaign budget of $35, far below what the proposed pub night’s expenses would entail.

After discussion between Bowen and McAnaney, SA President Laura Kelley and Brown President Robert Plummer, Brown decided to remove Youn’s name from its pub night theme and the event was held as normal.

Youn said he was not involved in the planning of the event.

“It should not have been allowed, and it’s unfortunate that it happened,” Youn said.

The other candidates declined to comment.

Bowen said he sees the situation as a self-censorship lesson for future candidates.

“I know Matt Youn is like a cult at Brown,” Bowen said. “But candidates need to exercise more restraint with the use of their names. This never should have needed to come to the elections committee.”

End of article

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