Update: 9:30 pm. Ravens United vice president (internal) candidate Ahmad Hashimi was issued his second electoral violation of the campaign Thursday night for campaigning in a private area.
A private area constitutes any space in which campaigning is not permitted. This includes Reddit, email and the Carleton campus.
With a second violation, Hashimi has lost the right to obtain a refund of campaign expenses. With an additional violation, Hashimi could be disqualified from the election.
The Carleton University Students’ Association elections office issued four electoral violations Thursday.
The violations were issued against Students First presidential candidate Kathleen Weary, Ravens United vice-president (community engagement) candidate Callie Ogden, independent vice-president (community engagement) candidate Divine Oluah, and faculty of public affairs councillor candidate Hibrahima Dieng.
Weary violated section 3.2 of the voting day policy, which prohibits candidates from attempting “to persuade students to vote for a specific candidate or slate” during the two voting days.
Weary did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ogden violated section 8.4i of the social media policy, which states that candidates are responsible for ensuring advertisements are not distributed outside of the campaign period.
Per the elections office, Ogden ran ads on Instagram during the voting period. Ravens United campaign volunteer Jordan Collacutt disputed the violation in an email to the Charlatan.
“Despite our significant evidence proving that the complaints against Ravens United’s candidates are unfounded, the [e]lections [o]ffice appears to not be taking this evidence into account,” Collacutt wrote.
Collacutt provided screenshots which she said prove Ogden was not running any promotions on Instagram during the voting period. The screenshots allegedly show Ogden’s Instagram promotion tab with no active advertisements at 11:52 pm on Feb. 2, eight minutes before the end of the campaign period.
In a statement, the slate said Collacutt saw one of Ogden’s “glitched ads” on her Instagram feed at 11:39 am Feb. 3 and ensured again no promotions were active on Ogden’s account.
“I am confident that the above evidence displays an error on Instagram’s part, not on Callie Ogden’s,” Ravens United said in a statement. “All due diligence was made by members of our team to follow the rules—and immediately address the glitch once it was raised to our attention.”
Chief electoral officer Alexa Camick said in an email to the Charlatan that the elections office would not comment on details of the violation.
Oluah violated the voting day policy by attempting to persuade students to vote for a candidate in a private area where campaigning is not permitted, per the electoral violation.
“I know I went against the code of conduct,” Oluah said in an email to the Charlatan. “[I] regret the action … I still apologize for my actions and [to] my supporters and the election body at large.”
Dieng violated section 4.4iii of the social media policy by failing to include the hashtag #CUVote21 and not tagging the CUSA elections account in at least one Instagram post.
Dieng did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Social media policy stipulates that all Instagram posts made by candidates must include the candidate’s full name, position they are campaigning for, their slate (if applicable) and the hashtag #CUVote21. Posts must also tag the CUSA elections account.
Three electoral violations had been issued prior to Feb. 4. Ahmad Hashimi, Ravens United vice-president (internal) candidate, violated the electoral code by “damaging or defacing the online presence of another candidate.”
Independent vice-president (finance) candidate Kareem AlWazir was issued a violation for mass-messaging students.
Emily Buchkowsky, Students First vice-president (finance) candidate, violated the electoral code by “undermining the integrity of the electoral process.”
A candidate who commits two electoral offences loses the right to obtain a refund of campaign expenses. All violations issued so far have been first-time offences, meaning candidates will not face disciplinary action.
