Dean Tester is a third-year journalism student. He thinks CUSA’s electoral process is biased
and Bruce Kyereh-Addo should be the president-elect
 
 
 
Last year, an anonymous Facebook user created a group to attack Carleton University Students’ Association
(CUSA) presidential candidate Andrew Monkhouse. Chief electoral officer (CEO) Kimalee Phillip told The Charlatan that “the fake profile creates an impossible situation, where blame is largely absent.”                 
 
This year, an anonymous Facebook user took out advertisements to attack presidential candidate Erik Halliwell.
 
CEO Heather Murley disqualified his opponent, Bruce Kyereh-Addo.                  
 
This embarrassing double standard speaks volumes about the bias involved in our electoral process. And this is hardly the only case.                 
 
For example, one of Kyereh-Addo’s electoral violations was for “campaigning in residence” through DC++.
 
Allegedly, his supporters were sending messages on the program’s chat function. However, several messages were also sent out supporting the entire Because It Matters slate. None of them received an electoral violation for it. 
 
Furthermore, Halliwell and Meera Chander openly campaigned in residence during the finale of Residence Idol. Halliwell appeared as a guest judge and was introduced as a candidate for Because It Matters, and host Chris Infantry openly described Halliwell’s accomplishments this year as vice-president (student issues).
 
Chander was a judge for the duration of the event. The event took place in Fenn Lounge, which is considered to be a part of residence. Neither received an electoral warning
 
 If you aren’t convinced that this means Murley was biased, then consider the following. Consider that Murley, along with electoral board members Chelsea Dunn and Mike Wiseman, have voted with Because It Matters slate members Meera Chander, Carlos Chacon, Erik Halliwell, Shewit Kalaty and Cameron MacKenzie on every single roll call vote in CUSA this year.                 
 
Murley and deputy returning officer Nick Curtis are both involved in the Greek community, and Because It Matters slate member Alex Sirois is the president of Greek council, and Chacon is also a fraternity president. Dunn is a very close friend of Brittany Smyth. Wiseman gets a huge cheque from CUSA each year as GLBTQ co-ordinator.
 
The current council selected the electoral board and the constitutional board.
 
And finally, consider that this year’s electoral officers are trying to select our president.
 
The United Nations handbook on human rights and elections says that elections “shall be supervised by authorities whose independence and impartiality are ensured and whose decisions are subject to appeal to the judicial authorities or other independent and impartial bodies.” 
 
Even if you do not accept the thought that our elections officials were biased, how can it be claimed that Murley, a current FASS councillor, is independent? How can it be claimed that the Constitutional Board, chaired by current president Brittany Smyth, is independent?
 
It should not be up to five of Erik Halliwell’s friends to select whom our president should be. We, the students, elected Bruce Kyereh-Addo by a margin of 1,744 to 1,569. We, the students, do not believe in the double standards the electoral office has tried to set. We, the students, do not believe you can disqualify someone without any proof. We, the students, do not believe in guilty until proven innocent. 
 
The allegations against Kyereh-Addo are entirely false and the electoral board has no proof that he was involved with any of the things he is accused of. This is not just an attack on Kyereh-Addo. This is an attack on democratic principles. And we, the students, will not stand by and watch this happen. Bruce Kyereh-Addo is our president.