The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) elections office has come up with tougher standards for the upcoming election after the disqualification for Rez-Solution in January was overturned, according to David Valentin, RRRA’s chief electoral officer.
The three original slates are running again, but this time with new titles. A fourth team had its successful nomination but decided they would not go forward in the second election.
Going forward, the slates will have entirely new names to ensure fairness. The new names are in place so the original slates cannot re-use their old campaign materials and so they are forced to introduce themselves and explain their platforms again to students. This would ensure that the original slates would not have an unfair advantage over any new slate that decided to run in the election, according to Valentin.
Rez-Solution will now be called A New RRRA, A Team You Can Trust is now Students First, and Undivided will now be United.
Jeremy Brzozowski of the Student Experience Office will be an extra pair of eyes assisting RRRA in ensuring a fair and regulated election, Valentin said.
Valentin said RRRA made an effort to write rules with no loopholes because in previous years, chief electoral officers have been “outsmarted” by campaigns.
Since February, RRRA has implemented measures to minimize the possibility of electoral violations. These include clearer electoral codes about poll clerking and stricter volunteer contracts to prevent issues like ballot stuffing.
Voting stations will be in the line of sight of security cameras and names on voter lists will be more spread out to ensure administrative errors are reduced.
RRRA will combat voter fraud by limiting ballot supply to voting stations, requiring a third signature on delivered ballots, and seeking the help of the Student Experience Office and ombudsman’s office, Valentin said.
“We’ve codified all of the regulations, written in the most concise manner possible. But at the end of the day it is up to people to follow the rules,” Valentin said.
The positions each respective team will run for remain the same:
Students First
President: Joel Tallerico
Vice-president (administration): Natalie Mohamed
Vice-president (programming): Juan Colicchio
A New RRRA
President: Sidney Otoboeze
Vice-president (administration): Daniel Shalinsky
Vice-president (programming): Kendra Kading
United
President: Will Cathcart
Vice-president (administration): Arif Jaffer
Vice-president (programming): Jessica Barlow
