There have been two verbal warnings and a violation issued to the Excellence and For Change slate on March 21, according to the 2019 Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) elections office.
Excellence received a verbal warning for posting campaign material to a glass surface in a public area, and a violation for campaign-related posts on social media without using the #RRRAelections2019 hashtag.
For Change also received a verbal warning for posting campaign material to a glass surface in a public area.
According to section 6.3 (e) of RRRA’s electoral code, “campaign material shall not be fixed to any glass surface within a public area, as per the policies of the Department of the University/Residence Maintenance.”
Nada Ibrahim, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), said both Excellence and For Change put up their posters in the residence building Frontenac House, which she said was against RRRA’s bylaws and instructions given by the elections office.
“When violations are being committed by the slates, it’s a disadvantage for everybody else,” she said. “Because these posters were placed on the glass surfaces at every floor of Frontenac, that could reach up to 250 more people, which other slates were disadvantaged of.”
Kieran Lacroix, the presidential candidate from For Change, said the verbal warning issued to his slate was “reasonable.”
“It was an honest mistake, but fair is fair, so we got a verbal warning for that,” he said.
Lacroix said his team is taking preventative measures to avoid any further violations.
“Luckily, all of the other posters are put in the appropriate spots, and it was just that one poster in Frontenac that was put up in error,” he said. “Moving forward, campaigning is over very soon, so we should be okay with that.”
Mohammed Ali, the presidential candidate from Excellence, said his slate thought instructions from the election office were not clear enough about the difference between clear and glass surfaces for where slates can put posters up.
“The glass surface in Frontenac is not clear,” he said. “Turns out posting on any glass surface is a violation.”
Ali said he does not think the violations will affect voting, adding he has trust in Excellence’s campaign.
“We’ll try to be careful next time,” he added. “We’re in complete agreement with the elections office.”
Ibrahim said it’s important for slates to include the official election hashtag when posting on social media, “because then the election office and any students voting can find all the material posted by every single candidate through the hashtag, and it gives them all a fair chance.”
“I feel like these mistakes can easily happen to any slate in term of violations, but we just want to make sure students can follow everything that is happening in the election,” she added.
Ibrahim said both slates have been asked to take down posters from Frontenac. She said Excellence has also been asked to remove any campaign material on social media not using the official hashtag #RRRAelections2019.
Residence students can vote in this year’s RRRA elections via online ballot tomorrow.
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