The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) Electoral Board has reached a decision on the disqualification of the Change slate in the recent CUSA elections. While upholding two out of three electoral violations, the slate will not be disqualified due to lacking a third standing electoral violation.
The Change slate filed four appeals to the three electoral violations issued by chief electoral officer (CEO) Matt Swain. Violations upheld by the board include campaigning on voting days and interrupting a class without permission from the instructor.
However, the electoral board’s decision states the violation for impersonating a professor was successfully appealed due to new information from the teaching assistant (TA) involved with the incident.
The TA, who reported the slate to the electoral office, has retracted their statement, noting Ahmadou Gitteh entered the class but did not introduce himself as the professor.
“The TA made it very clear in this new statement that the worker never introduced himself as a professor . . . Although the worker should not have been in the lab, this new and more complete information proved the worker did not impersonate anyone,” the decision reads. “The appeal from the Change slate on this impersonating issue was granted in a unanimous vote.”
The professor emailed the elections office to retratc the statements on behalf of the TAs.
“This appears to me to be a case of mistaken identity and coincidence that the names are similar. Given this new information provided by Alaa, it no longer indicates to me any intent to mislead or impersonate Prof. Ahmad,” the email said.
With fewer than three violations, the decision states that while members of the slate will not be receiving a refund on money used to campaign due to the “serious offence” of campaigning on a voting day, the election results stand.
Gitteh said the slate is going to appeal the remaining two violations to the consitiutional board, Carleton’s highest board.
“The issue is not are the going to get the money,” Gitteh said. “This is not about money, it’s about itegrity and dignity. Money is the last thing.”
Gitteh added he felt the elections process was “corrupt” and “unprofessional.”
“In the electoral code, we expect that the people in charge are the first people to abide by those rules,” he said.
“The election tally remains with the candidates with the most votes winning their individual election,” the decision states.
Adam Carroll, campaign manager for Change, said he believes the elctoral office acted purely to disqulifiy his team.
“I’m very disappointed with the actions of the election office,” Carroll said. “Their goal was to disqualify our team. They knew if they investigated properly there would be no charges againt Ahmadou and our team. We’re disappointed with the undemocratic actions of the CEO.”
Gennesse Walker-Scace, fourth-year public affairs and policy management student and a member of the electoral board, said issuing a violation for the impersonation without evidence violates precedent.
“Normally eyewitness accounts are not acceptable evidence, that’s based on electoral precedent. There always has to be recorded evidence to ensure the allegation is actually true,” Walker-Scace said.
Walker-Scace said the electoral board met twice, including once before reading week. However, the retratction was presented after the meeting, so the board reconvened after reading week.
“After we had met, Prof. Wallace sent an email to the elections office stating he wished to reatract the complaint. Via email, with guidance from the ombudsman, we decided to hold releasing any rulings until we could meet in person the next week when everyone was back in town,” Walker-Scace said.
“From the perspective of the electoral board, it was messy,” Walker-Scace said. “I personally feel that ruling should not have been made, it was not within the confines of the electoral code.”
The electoral board’s decison is not final, as it can still be appealed to the consititutional board by both Change and the electoral office. The consitiutional board’s decision is final.
