Barely 24 hours into the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) election campaign, an electoral offence has been handed out to a presidential candidate.
Nick Bergamini, candidate with the “A Better Deal” slate, has been found in violation of the electoral code after chief electoral officer (CEO) Sagal Osman was alerted to the domain name “cusaonline.ca” Feb. 3.
The domain hosts a 2008 CBC article about the CUSA Shinerama scandal in which Bergamini is named and quoted.
Bergamini said he didn’t know the website existed until 5:30 p.m., Feb. 3, when he received an e-mail from Osman telling him he was in violation of the electoral code.
“I don’t know who did it,” he said. “I have absolutely nothing to gain.”
According to the official ruling the “article has obviously been posted in an effort to reach students that mistakenly type in cusaonline.ca instead of going to the cusaonline.com website,” which is the official CUSA website.
Osman has considered the domain a form of campaigning because it directly promotes Bergamini. However, the CEO must approve all campaign materials, including websites, and this domain was not approved.
In the notice of violation, Osman instructed Bergamini to take down the site, which Bergamini said he cannot do because he did not purchase the domain.
“I literally can’t do anything about it,” he said.
Bergamini said he isn’t blaming the elections office, but will be appealing the ruling.
According to domain registration information found online, the cusaonline.ca website was purchased Jan. 20, two weeks before campaigning began.