The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) dropped its writ of election and passed its electoral code at an emergency council meeting Feb. 7, scheduling voting for March 22 and 23.
The nomination period will take place from March 10 to 12. Candidates will collect signatures through a form on the election’s website. Campaigning, which will be entirely virtual, is scheduled for March 16 to 21.
After the controversial decision to bar campaigning on Reddit in the Carleton University Students’ Association election, RRRA’s chief electoral officer Frederic Diebel said Reddit would also not be permitted for campaigning in the RRRA elections because it is a “difficult platform to police.”
“In order to keep a[n] honest, fair, equitable and respectful campaign period the elections team believe[s] that Reddit is not the place for such campaigning,” Diebel said in a statement to the Charlatan.
“In the light of positive student politics, we believe that this decision will help us manage online slander during the campaign,” Diebel said.
While deputy electoral officer Simon Harris said he would not be opposed to amending RRRA’s electoral code to allow campaigning on Reddit, the code passed without changes.
Permitted platforms for campaigning are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Sending automated messages over social media to students is an electoral violation and candidates must personalize each message sent, Diebel said.
For the first time, candidates can run as independents rather than as part of a slate—a decision made at RRRA’s November meeting to make campaigning easier during COVID-19.
To accommodate the change, this year’s electoral code sets a cap of $150 in expenses for each independent candidate. The $350 permitted for slates is the same as the 2020 election.
Other significant changes to the 2021 electoral code include a new section on endorsements of candidates.
While the electoral code permits any member of the association to endorse candidates, it encourages current and elected executives of CUSA, the Carleton Academic Student Government, and RRRA executives not running in the election to refrain from using “their position or authority to unduly influence the electoral process.”
Diebel said the elections office is trying to limit outside interference in the election. In the 2020 RRRA elections, the involvement of two CUSA executives generated controversy.
An audio recording made before the 2020 election showed then-candidate and current RRRA president Jaden Slawter accepting the help of CUSA vice-president (finance) Jacob Howell. Sissi De Flaviis, a former CUSA executive, also offered to help Slawter’s slate.
At the time, Slawter said in a statement the recording was “not conclusive to wrongdoing and rather turned into rumours, hate and spite in our online community.”
While opposing presidential candidate Angelica Zagorski—who submitted the recording—alleged Slawter’s slate had committed three electoral violations and should be disqualified from the election, the violations were ruled inadmissible for not being reported to the chief electoral officer within 24 hours of discovery.
“There has been a history of interference and there has been a history of sway from different associations within Carleton,” Diebel said. “We’re just limiting it to try to keep outside influence from RRRA.”
The elections office will host inclusion and equity training for candidates prior to campaigning. Diebel said slander or “undeserved comments” towards other candidates will constitute an electoral violation.
