The results for the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) elections were in on March 9, but were not released by the Elections Office until March 10, following an investigation.
In a statement posted to the RRRA Elections 2018 Facebook page, chief electoral officer (CEO) Kieran Moloney wrote, “The elections office will not be releasing the unofficial results tonight. This is due to a current investigation underway by the CEO and [deputy electoral officer].”
The polls closed at 9 p.m. on March 9, following one day of voting.
According to previous articles from the Charlatan, results are typically released the same night. This year, however, there was a 24-hour period before the results were released.
Moloney said this year’s election results were not delayed. He said that the Elections Office was well within their right—per RRRA’s bylaws—to take the extra 24 hours to check the results. He said they did this to ensure due diligence.
The investigation involved checking campaign expenses, which Moloney said was more of a routine check, rather than an investigation into any specific concerns. He said he was ensuring the process was fair and he was merely following procedure in waiting the extra time to release the results.
Sissi De Flaviis, who was voted in as vice-president (administration) under the Your Voice slate, said she was not worried about the investigation.
“I knew we weren’t going to get disqualified because we played it safe and we didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.
At the time of the investigation, De Flaviis said she did not know it was about her slate, Your Voice.
In a post to Facebook, Moloney said the investigation found that the slate had not breached RRRA’s bylaws by overspending.
“The CEO and DEO have verified all expenditures by all teams comprehensively and have concluded that all teams spent less than $500.00 Canadian,” the official ruling read.
While Moloney said “People were anxious to hear the results,” he added that he did not hear any grievances from candidates or students about the delay. He said the Elections Office is satisfied with the results.
After receiving the unofficial results on March 10, De Flaviis said she was “pretty excited,” but was unsure whether or not the investigation would affect the official results.
“Knowing the unofficial results had us winning was pretty exciting, but then we just wanted to take it one step at a time and we were still kind of worried, being in the dark with how the investigation was going,” she said.
De Flaviis said some students were confused about what the difference between RRRA and the Carleton University Students’ Association is.
“That’s knowledge that probably should have already been there, but it is something we’re going to work on next year,” she said.
The election results were made official on March 13.
– With files Rachel Emmanuel
Photo by Erica Giancola
