When the appeal for a disqualified presidential candidate went to the constitutional board level during last year’s election, director of student affairs Ryan Flannagan said the Carleton University Students’ Association rejected assistance from the school.
During last year’s election, two of three presidential candidates were disqualified after polling had concluded.
One of the disqualified candidates, Bruce Kyereh-Addo, took his appeal to the constitutional board, CUSA’s highest governing body, after his disqualification was upheld by the electoral board.
“When it became clear an appeal would be filed by [Kyereh-Addo], we approached CUSA first to get a better understanding of their appeal process,” Flannagan said through e-mail correspondence.
Flannagan said he spoke with former CUSA executive co-ordinator James Pratt.
“We talked about the opportunity to bring in a third party to bear witness and verify the procedures of the appeal,” Flannagan said.
During this discussion, Flannagan said names were put forwards as to who this third party could be, but that Pratt declined his offer.
“We respected that decision,” Flannagan said.
Flannagan said he attended Kyereh-Addo’s constitutional board hearing that took place last March as an observer.
He said he was there to take notes, but that at one point he was asked if he wanted to speak.
“I wasn’t expecting to participate, but Kweku [Winful],” who was chair of the board, “did ask me at one point if I wanted to make any statement. I declined,” Flannagan said.
The result of the appeal was that Kyereh-Addo remained disqualified, leaving Erik Halliwell as the sole presidential candidate, who became 2009-10 CUSA president.
Current executive co-ordinator Danielle Sampson said the make-up of the constitutional board and its processes are enshrined in CUSA bylaws.
“What our elections have to follow is our governing documents,” Sampson said.
CUSA’s bylaws outline that the constitutional board meetings are only open to members of the association, who pay CUSA fees, of which Flannagan was not.
Kyreh-Addo said he remembers Flannagan being at his hearing.
"He wrote his notes. He saw the bullshit," Kyreh-Addo said. "There was no fairness and he saw that."
While he was not allowed to officially participate, Flannagan said he did not see a problem with the appeal process.
“The university’s stance is that this was a CUSA process and that CUSA carried out the appeal in question with appropriate due diligence and fairness,” he said.