Violators of Election Code Under Review

Two weeks after the Fullerton College Associated Students elections for the 2007-2008 school year took place, the current A.S. and Election Committee are still in the final stages of deliberation due to appeals, disqualifications and other errors within the process.

"If the A.S. Senate feels that the election process needs to be re-looked at, the Election Committee will be subject to reconsideration of the process upon the request of the Senate," said Darlene Jensen, A.S. Advisor.

Candidates David Adame, Kendra Maestas and Sarah Martin were cited for disqualification shortly after running for candidacy.

"The committee listened to meeting tapes and double checked the election packets and meeting agendas to make sure everything was clear and accurate," said Jensen. "It is challenging to make the right decision for all the people involved."

According to Jensen, there were two violations that led to disqualification for the three candidates. The first violation involved candidates not meeting their Friday deadline of removing all campaign posters around campus.

Students were informed at the candidates meeting that the deadline to remove posters from around the school was moved to April 20, according to Jensen.

A.S. senators questioned the disqualifications for several reasons, one being that the date changes may be reason for not meeting deadlines. The second violation of the election code was the accuracy and submission of the candidate's expense reports, according to Jensen.

"[Election Committee members] are strict to the letter of the law and election code with the candidates," said Jensen regarding this violation.

"Sarah Martin, candidate for I.C.C. president, faced disqualification due to her name being on a poster that was not removed on time.

During Monday's elections for the I.C.C. officers, Martin was advised to also run for the position of vice president in case of disqualification for I.C.C. president.

In this case, the I.C.C. VP will automatically assume the position of president.

"On behalf of myself and the other candidates, we feel that to be disqualified under these conditions is stupid," Adame said. "The student body votes for us and by following through with this, we are denoting their participation."

In compliance with the election code, candidates are required to divide up and calculate their expenses as individuals and attach copies of all their receipts.

If one candidate is running for two positions, they are required to fill out separate and complete expense forms. Adame, a candidate running for student trustee as well as A.S president, violated the election code by incompletely supplying all the expense information on one form. By doing this, Adame risks disqualification for the A.S. president position.

"This was a very rare situation that this year's Senate was put into," said Julie Law, I.C.C. president.

"Being involved for the last three years, it completely saddens me to see this happen," she said, regarding the Senate's decision to question the Election Committee.

Adame was approved to serve as the 2007-2008 Student Trustee by the A.S. Election Committee and will have the opportunity to submit a written appeal for being disqualified from the president candidacy.

"The A.S. adopted the election process and we have a candidate meeting for the reason of preventing disqualification," Law said. "These rules have been in place for over 20 years and were approved by the student body."

The motion to approve the process, as presented Tuesday, was opposed by the majority in a roll call vote, resulting in the motion for the Election Committee to reconsider the election process.

"Those who oppose [the election process] believe that the committee shouldn't follow through with the disqualifications because the rules of the election need to be looked at," said Jason Worrel, A.S senator.

The next step is for the Election Committee to meet this week and decisions will be approved by the A.S. Senate the following Tuesday, according to Law.

"We are only looking at the election process and code here," Law said. "We are not focusing on the individual candidates or their agenda."