An advertisement published by the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) in The Charlatan has exposed possible loopholes in the association’s writ of referenda.
The writ, which is available online through CUSA’s website, states that referenda campaigns are limited to $400 per committee and that all funds are 50 per cent refundable.
However, during the recent referendum held by CUSA regarding raising the clubs and societies levy, an advertisement valued at approximately $670 (according to The Charlatan’s rate card) was published in The Charlatan by the association on behalf of the ‘Yes’ committee.
The cost of the full-page advertisement is approximately $270 more than the campaigning budget CUSA council voted on as part of the writ in November 2015. The value of the ad is $835, according to the rate card, but this cost is lowered for advertisers with a year-long contract.
CUSA president Fahd Alhattab said the advertisement was a donation from the association to the ‘Yes’ committee. However, since the publication of the advertisement, there has been some debate on whether or not this was a violation of the rules outlined by The Electoral Code Policy.
Graduate Students’ Association president Michael Bueckert, who also sits on CUSA council, said he thinks it is alarming that the donation from CUSA exceeds the spending limit outlined by the writ of referenda.
“It means that either CUSA isn’t bothering to read their own policies, or that they simply don’t care about following them,” Bueckert said in an email. “In a referendum, the entire point of spending limits is to prevent any group from having an unfair advantage.”
The referendum, which passed on Dec. 3, allowed students to vote for an increase to the clubs and societies levy by $1.75 per semester.
There was an official committee campaigning for a ‘Yes’, but there was not an official ‘No’ committee registered, despite the backlash the question received, according to Alhattab. Each committee formed is subject to the $400 limit on advertising, according to the writ.
According to the chief electoral officer (CEO) of CUSA elections, Matthew Swain, there was officially no overspending by the ‘Yes’ committee because the advertisement was a donation from CUSA.
It is unclear whether or not donations are included in the budget because there is no explicit rule present in The Electoral Code Policy regarding this issue.
Swain said if the ‘Yes’ committee had overspent, there are rules and procedures in place within the Electoral Code that outline the consequence for this type of violation, which involve the withholding of a certain per cent of the requested levy with every warning.
“I have found that there are policies that are subject to interpretation due to their lack in clarity and details,” Swain said in an email regarding The Electoral Code Policy.
As a first-time CEO, Swain added there was much to learn from this referendum. The code is detailed and outlines the procedures, practices, and consequences in a referendum, but there is still much left open to personal analysis, he said.
Bueckert said this incident leads him to question the integrity of CUSA’s overall election process, which is similar in nature to the referendum process.
“It undermines confidence in their ability to run any election fairly,” he said. “Is this the way that CUSA is going to run its general elections? I wouldn’t have any faith in their electoral process if I was an undergraduate student.”
While Alhattab confirmed the advertisement was a donation from CUSA to the ‘Yes’ committee, he referred all questions of a possible violation of the writ to the elections CEO.
“There are systems in place to make sure we are being as fair as possible, but it is not up to my opinion to interpret these rules,” he said. He added the CUSA executives office operates seperately from the CEO’s office to ensure a fair elections procedure.
“The rules are patchwork. We are currently working on making them better,” Alhattab said.
Swain said he has been documenting possible areas of improvement regarding the referendum and elections. He added he will be submitting them to the CUSA council in the CEO’s end of year report. The report will be shared publicly.
As of now, the writ does not clarify that donations must be included in the referendum guidelines for spending, but Swain said this issue will be clarified for upcoming elections and referenda.
