Changes to the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)’s Electoral Code were discussed at its meeting on Nov. 21, but will not be voted on until the association’s next meeting in December.
“No doubt that these changes will make a difference in the way we run elections and hopefully they clear up a lot of things that happened in the past,” said Lauren Konarowski, CUSA vice-president (internal).
According to Érik Labelle Eastaugh, the lawyer hired by CUSA to go through the Electoral Policy, the changes were made in response to the last set of CUSA elections. Ashley Courchene, CUSA vice-president (student services), was initially disqualified from his position after his slate was found to have committed three electoral violations. The disqualification was appealed a number of times, and eventually went to judicial review in the Superior Court of Ontario. The judge ruled that Courchene be allowed to serve in the position he was elected to after it was found that there was a breach of procedural fairness.
Eastaugh said it is in CUSA’s best interest not to be dragged into court after elections each spring, and the amendments to the policy would help prevent that.
More regulations about a slate’s conduct on voting day were added to the policy. Candidates can talk to students and encourage them to vote on voting day, but they can’t give class talks, something Courchene’s slate was alleged to have done during the last election. This is because it is possible a class talk could affect the outcome of an election, Konarowski said.
Another change the amendment would add to the policy is that electoral complaints have to be made within 24 hours of the moment the offences occurs, down from the 36 hours it was previously. This is to ensure complaints are made in a timely manner, Eastaugh said.
While council originally planned to debate and vote on the motion to make the amendments to the policy, councillors voted to defer the vote to the meeting in December.
Julia Dalphy, engineering and design councillor, said she felt like she had not had enough time to consult with students on the policy as she received the changes 10 days ago, and was only fully briefed on them during the meeting.
Fahd Alhattab, CUSA president, said the changes had been worked on since May, and CUSA has to hire a Chief Electoral Officer and Deputy Electoral Officer in the near future.
A motion to table the amendments was passed with 19 councillors voting in favour, zero against, and one person abstaining.
