The 12 disqualified Student Senate candidates will have their chance to appeal the decision soon, said FACE presidential candidate Matthew Wallace.
This year’s Board of Elections has been too strict compared to last year’s and had vague guidelines about what was a disqualifying offense, Wallace said.
“Last year, (the Board of Elections) actually gave candidates a chance to talk to them about why they may have made mistakes on their applications,” he said, adding that the only specific requirement for judicial qualifications in the rules is that the candidate abides by the OU Student Code of Conduct.
Board of Elections Chair Chauncey Jackson said the board’s decision to disqualify candidates with Class A Code of Conduct offenses was the right one.
“With all of the rules, it’s up to the Board of Elections to interpret what that means,” he said. “… I think that the board made a fair ruling. I will say that it was difficult. But, a fair way to go about it was to draw a line in the sand (at Class A offenses).”
Of the 12 candidates disqualified from the race, nine of them were running on Wallace’s FACE ticket. The other three belonged on the RSVP ticket, headed by presidential candidate and student trustee Kyle Triplett.
Initially, Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi told Wallace that all nine disqualified FACE candidates had reported their GPAs incorrectly. However, Wallace met with Lombardi this weekend and found out that four of the nine were out of the running for judicial reasons.
Three of the disqualified FACE candidates were charged with disorderly conduct — a Class A offense under the Code of Conduct — within the past year. However, it is unknown if these students were disqualified for judicial reasons.
SAC at-large candidate Jeff Kiser and at-large candidate Joel Newby were found guilty of disorderly conduct, a minor misdemeanor. Greg Christo-Baker, a SAC at-large candidate, was found guilty of persistent disorderly conduct, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, according to Athens Municipal Court records.
The Board of Elections can also disqualify a candidate if his or her GPA is below a 2.0.
The candidates will be able to appeal their disqualifications to an elections appeals committee, which will be headed by Student Senate President Jesse Neader, Wallace said.
“I’ve had to devote a little more time to writing appeals this past weekend,” he said, adding that he is hopeful that all nine candidates will be reinstated.
It’s not going to affect the voracity with which we go out and campaign.”
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