Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Another suit against the elections
Bears United candidate for... uh... everything Andy Ratto has filed a charge sheet with the Judicial Council requesting an emergency preliminary injunction to stop voting. As some of you know, the Elections Council is handing out coupons for gelato to voters at the sites. Andy has talked about this before, and I agree with him that bribing students to vote is bad democracy. It also helps the proponent side for all fee referenda, because of the requirement that 20% of the students vote for the vote to be valid. Andy also claims that, because bringing the Naia lounge on campus is such an integral part of Student Actions platform this year, providing the coupons is supporting one candidate or group over another. From the charge sheet:
My second objection is that the gelato coupon is directly tied to a key plank of Student Action’s campaign. I have seen numerous posters around campus advertising what Student Action has “DONE” this year and one of the few things mentioned is the Naia lounge on campus. I will be subpoenaing a copy of this flyer for the hearing. I believe it is one of only three things that are part of the DONE platform they are running on. Student Action is making sure that voters know that we have access to Gelato on campus because of their efforts.
Chair Wren, by giving out gelato coupons is indirectly aiding Student Action. Any student who plans to go vote for a gelato coupon (as the coupons have been advertised to a ton of students through a variety of forms) will realize, either consciously, or subconsciously that they have access to a gelato lounge on campus because of Student Action. There was no gelato lounge on campus prior to Student Action’s effort, so the very existence of this coupon which can be redeemed on campus was only possible because of Student Action’s efforts. This is made especially direct because the coupon says it can only be redeemed at the “Naia Lounge” and not the Shattuck location.
This link is made even more direct and clear because the gelato coupon is a nearly identical bright orange color as the bright orange used by Student Action in their flyers. I have no information as to why Chair Wren decided to give out gelato coupons this year, but I am seeking to subpoena her to testify as to who suggested she do so, in case it was someone from Student Action.
Even if Chair Wren decided to hand out these coupons on her own, the direct link to Student Action’s campaign is clearly biased in their favor and a violation of her duty to remain neutral in the election and guarantee equal protection of all canddiates..
The logical extreme of this would be if a candidate ran on a platform that they helped extend the hours of the Northside Top Dog from 10-12, an extra two hours each night. If an Election Chair gave out a coupon to every voter that could be redeemed for a free Top Dog only from the Northside location and only from 10-12 at night, that would be a clear and obvious violation of the bylaws, because the election chair would be favoring one candidate and not providing equal protection. Although the connection is not as direct, I think the evidence is overwhelming that there are voters making that link (and I will provide witnesses who will testify that they knew that Student Action was claiming they got a gelato lounge on campus and that they would receive a gelato coupon on campus).
Because of the irreversible damage done by tainting every voter that receives a coupon, Andy is requesting that the Judicial Council issue an emergency preliminary injunction stopping the election until the coupons are removed and this can be confrimed as done.
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