This story has been updated to reflect the most recent reporting.
The Fight ticket, one of three tickets running for Ohio University Student Senate, has been disqualified Monday for neglecting to follow a portion of senate's rules and procedures, according to the Student Senate Judicial Panel.
Chapter 14, the specific section the ticket violated, explains the consequences for a ticket that fails to submit finance reports on time. As of this morning, Fight had committed a class A infraction, which means that for the fourth time Fight had not submitted their financial report on time.
"We thought the finance report was due tomorrow night before they released the results," David Parkhill, presidential candidate for Fight, said. "I think this is just the death by fire of a ticket that had no inside experience."
Fight is an entirely external ticket, meaning none of the candidates had served on senate before. The names of all the candidates have been removed from the ballot, and all votes cast for Fight will not be counted.
"I take full responsibility as the leader of this ticket," Parkhill said.
Parkhill said the guiding document Fight had been using were the rules and procedures which said elections were to be held Tuesday and Wednesday of the twelfth week of the semester. He was unaware that senate had passed a resolution in November changing the dates of the election.
“(This) speaks to being outsiders and how the outsiders don’t really have as fair of an opportunity as those in the inside do,” Parkhill said.
Jivanto van Hermert, graduate assistant for Student Senate, said that change does not affect Fight’s eligibility.
“In this situation, the only way that they could be reinstated (is) if they appealed and that appeal was successful,” van Hermert said.
Parkhill says Fight has been in contact with a lawyer and is planning to appeal the judicial panel’s decision.
“I think somebody with real expertise in legalese and legal documents is actually going to be able to help us out quite a bit,” Parkhill said.
If the appeal is filed and Fight wins the appeal, it will be up to the Special Committee on Election Appeals to decide if a special re-election will be called, according to an email from the senate judicial panel account. Fight will also have to pay $470 for its violations.
