Elections are underway to choose the next executive and council of the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA). By now, students have been stopped enough times in the Unicentre atrium to know three slates are running in this year’s election: ACT Now Carleton, led by Dan Crich; Change CUSA, led by Ahmadou Gitteh; and Your Carleton, led by Fahd Alhattab.
While the official all-candidates debate is tonight at 7 p.m. in the atrium, the Charlatan has all the information on who’s received electoral violations so far and for what.
Nominations and pre-campaigning
There were whispers of controversy before the elections even started this year, with confusion around when and how candidates could collect email signatures. The Elections Office did not hand out any electoral violations.
Another electoral complaint was issued regarding a pre-campaigning violation against Craig Handy, the current Foot Patrol co-ordinator who is running for vice-president (finance) for the Your Carleton slate. A video was uploaded during the nomination period of Handy speaking in favour of the I Can MANifest Change campaign, which encourages men and boys to challenge gender-based violence. It was argued the video could have built support for Handy, which could be seen as pre-campaigning. The Elections Office investigated and decided against issuing a violation as long as Handy does not share the video on his personal social media pages.
Social media
A fake Your Carleton Twitter profile popped up, called You’re Carleton, which attempted to discredit some of the slate’s campaign promises. The Elections Office isn’t sure who’s behind the account but asked all candidates to “refrain from following, retweeting, or favouriting anything from this account.”
ACT Now Carleton received the first and only electoral violation because the slate didn’t follow the social media guidelines, which state “all campaign tweets must include the hashtag #CUvote15.” According to the violation notice, there were multiple tweets posted to the ‘ACT Now Carleton’ Twitter page which neglected to include this hashtag.
Candidate complaints
Gitteh, the presidential candidate for Change CUSA, and Gurinder Singh, the same slate’s vice-president (finance) candidate received electoral complaints for their conduct during the campaign, but no violations were issued.
Campaigning on the weekend
CUSA elections have a strict guideline against campaigning on weekends, which includes posting new updates on social media. Rumours circulated that all three slates campaigned at various events, however there were no video nor audio recordings of the alleged infractions. The Elections Office did not issue any violations to any slate.
CUSA resources
Your Carleton received an electoral complaint that alleged the slate was campaigning in the CUSA office, a violation of the electoral code, and storing campaign materials in the office as well. There was no evidence the slate was campaigning in the office, thus no violations were issued. However, “candidates are not restricted from storing campaign materials in their offices on campus, and the Elections Office is available for those who do not have this option,” the Elections Office said.
As part of the complaint, Your Carleton was also alleged to have used CUSA sweaters in order to secure votes. While there are photos of the slate and volunteers wearing CUSA sweaters, the Elections Office said in their ruling that “there is no evidence that the ‘Your Carleton’ slate is using CUSA sweaters as campaign material in order to secure votes.”
