SGA to hold special presidential election following disqualifications

Collage by Easton Clark, Photo Editor

The winners of the Student Government Association (SGA) presidential and vice presidential elections have been disqualified for violating campaign guidelines. 

What does this mean for the future of SGA’s leadership? Over the past week and a half, The Panther has been investigating what happened in the election — and what comes next.

Results delayed, investigation begins

The original election cycle ran from Feb. 20 to Feb. 25, with the expectation that results would be announced at 5:30 p.m. that Wednesday.

But then a week went by and results were nowhere to be found. 

On March 3, Director of Senate Ryan Vega told The Panther that SGA was addressing internal matters and awaiting further information. Vega did not disclose details about what the organization was looking into, but said the review was following the appropriate internal processes. 

“Because this involves an active election matter, we are limited in the details we can publicly share while ensuring fairness and confidentiality for all parties involved,” Vega said.

Before the polls close, Chen-Reeves disqualified

Outgoing SGA President Cintya Felix told The Panther that the Elections Committee had met before the end of the voting period to review potential violations made by the ticket of Jason Wu Chen (presidential candidate) and Alexis Reeves (vice presidential candidate). 

The committee concluded that the violations, which were solely against Chen, were grounds to disqualify both running mates.

“The current Elections Committee is expending all its efforts to disqualify us for violations that are not backed by any evidence and are inconsequential," Chen and Reeves said in a joint statement to The Panther.

According to the statement, one of the complaints that disqualified Chen-Reeves was filed by “a member of the same fraternity” as runner-up Maximilian Wiseman, who said that they heard Chen call his opponent a “fraternity man” and refer to him as "incompetent." 

“We believe that this election was botched and rigged against us by many parties attempting to disqualify us for invalid reasons,” Chen and Reeves said.

Chen and Reeves exercised their right to appeal the committee’s decision, but the disqualification was upheld.

Chen-Reeves announced publicly as winners

On March 4, exactly one week after polls had closed, SGA posted on Instagram announcing that Chen and Reeves were the winners of the election and therefore the incoming president and vice president. The post also included official polling outcomes, showing that the majority of students voted for the winning candidates.  

This came to the surprise of Wiseman, who was told on that same day that he was the certified president-elect. 

“Last Wednesday, I was emailed that I unofficially lost, however nothing was certified,” Wiseman told The Panther. “Then today to my enjoyment, the director of senate, Ryan Vega, emailed me to certify the election.”

Due to the fact that the Chen-Reeves ticket had been disqualified, the next eligible candidates with the highest votes were Wiseman and his running mate, Miles McAndrew.

“With the completion of the appeals process and no remaining active complaints regarding the election, the results have now been finalized,” Vega said in the email. “Based on the certified vote totals, the Wiseman-McAndrew ticket received the highest number of eligible votes and is therefore recognized as the official winner." 

SGA leadership examines the situation

With both tickets now being separately recognized as winners, and student voters unsure of who their new president would be, active SGA leaders decided to reference the organization’s governing documents.

According to Felix, a meeting was held on March 5 along with Vega, Vice President Zoe Zadah and Associate Dean of Students Chris Hutchinson, who acted as an advisor to the students. 

SGA Election Protocol states: “In the event that an elected candidate becomes ineligible before the start of their term, the runner-up candidate will be offered the position. If there are no runner-up candidates or the runner-up declines the position, another election will be scheduled.”

With this jurisdiction, Vega sent the email offering the positions to Wiseman and McAndrew. Felix, however, said this move was premature as the SGA Constitution was not consulted first.

“The SGA Constitution takes precedence over any conflicting SGA documents because it is approved by a vote of the greater undergraduate student body,” Felix told The Panther. 

According to the constitution, if the president and vice president-elect are “unable to serve in their respective role,” SGA must hold a special election to re-elect these positions.

Felix also said that because the Chen-Reeves ticket was not removed before the polls closed, the ballot that many students voted on was outdated. 

“The disqualification of this ticket disenfranchised 1233 of the 2120 voters who cast their vote,” Felix said. “Because the director of senate did not remove the names of the disqualified candidates on the last day of elections, students were voting on an outdated ballot … While there may be ineligible candidates, there is no such thing as ineligible voters.”

What now?

Now, with no clear winner and a newfound guidance from its operating documents, SGA must carry out a special election to allow students a second chance to make their voices heard.

SGA, which oversees the distribution of over $1 million in club funds coming from student tuition money, confirmed that a special election will be held. The date hasn't been decided on yet.

All candidates from the original election, including the Chen-Reeves and Wiseman-McAndrew tickets, are eligible to run.

The Panther will continue to report on this story and the SGA special elections.