Official results of the Associated Students elections are a step closer to being released after an emergency meeting was called last Friday to discuss 18 grievances filed against candidates and supporters.
Six grievances against members of the Student Struggle Party were found valid by the Legislature, while two controversial grievances against a member of the Unified Student Movement were not. Elections Committee Chair, Steve Navarro, moved to discard the majority of the grievances because they were based in "human error" or could not be substantiated.
According to unofficial election results, Struggle garnered nearly half of the elected AS positions in March. Ten of the 22 legislative seats would go to Struggle candidates next fall. The grievances, filed primarily by USM supporters, could alter final results of the elections.
The majority of the current Legislature is comprised of members from the Unity slate, which is sponsored by the Political Coalition. This coalition also sponsored USM.
The Legislature found that supporters of Struggle violated the elections code by wearing campaign badges and distributing flyers within the Cesar Chavez Student Center, distributing campaign related e-mail to the J. Paul Leonard Library and Student Center, and holding a campaign-related social event in the Cantina located in Mary Ward Hall without permission from the Elections Committee.
Two grievances filed against USM presidential candidate Troy Buckner-Nkrumah for comments made against Zionists and "Zionist collaborators" were deemed not valid by the Legislature.
Arash Yaganehdoost, who filed one of the grievances against Buckner-Nkrumah, told legislators that after he had shaken hands with another student, Buckner-Nkrumah told the student, "you better go wash your hand. You just shook hands with a Zionist."
Anom Chavez, a witness to the event, said he was shocked by what Buckner-Nkrumah said.
"He called us Zionist and said the only good Zionist is a dead Zionist," he said.
"Those comments were made in a laughing manner," said Buckner-Nkrumah. "What I said was that in some countries, they cut off your hands for collaborating with Zionist."
Buckner-Nkrumah went on to say he informed the student that Struggle was supported by Zionists and that he "would rather put bullets into Zionists," than to have them on his slate.
Buckner-Nkrumah said his statements were not directed at anyone in particular and therefore did not pertain to the elections code which states, "Use of abusive or threatening language... by candidates against other candidates or voters is prohibited."
While one legislator argued that Buckner-Nkrumah was just expressing his political views, another said that his comments constituted a form of hate crime. The Legislature voted to discard the grievance.
Legislators voted to validate grievances from Alejandro Rios and Sandra Beatriz Vega that Struggle supporters violated the elections code by distributing campaign literature through university e-mail.
Rios and Vega said because the e-mail messages were accessible from computers in the library and Student Union -- places off-limits to campaigning -- Struggle violated election regulations.
Struggle candidate Kenyan McCarthy pointed out that in reality the e-mail messages did not exist in either of the off-limits buildings, but Rios countered that since the message could be printed out in the library, it constituted a violation.
McCarthy added that Struggle cannot be held responsible for the actions of every individual on campus.
"Anyone could have picked up our literature and e-mailed it." said McCarthy. "We have no knowledge of who this person is, and it can't be proven that we endorsed this, or had any knowledge of it."
Legislators also voted to hold Struggle in violation of regulations for what Struggle called a social gathering in the Cantina of Mary Ward Hall.
Buckner-Nkrumah and Jon Artigo, an independent presidential candidate, said in their grievances that Struggle held a political forum in the Cantina without the Elections Committee's permission.
Buckner-Nkrumah said he was walking by the residence hall when he saw a sign in a window announcing a Student Struggle social. He said the sign invited students to come and discuss issues and talk to candidates.
Fedda Dahdul said she was inside where she saw two stacks of campaign flyers. She said candidates discussed issues and talked about the elections.
Lael Sigal, residence assistant and member of Struggle, said she originally wanted to organize an event for both slates and left a message for Steve Navarro on Feb. 27, and again tried to reach him on the 28th.
Since she got no response from the Elections Committee, she said she changed it from a forum to a social event.
"The code didn't say we could not have a social," Sigal said.
She said the rule cited in both grievances -- that there will be no unauthorized campaign demonstrations or forums -- did not apply in this case.
One legislator was hesitant to vote on the issue Friday, saying that the Legislature has yet to define what a "forum" is. But another pointed out that the event was illegal anyway under another elections rule stating that permission is needed for all "unique" campaign procedures. This rule was not cited in either complaint.
McCarthy protested that the Legislature could not arbitrarily switch from one rule to another just to validate this grievance, but Navarro said the Legislature can move to make the grievance valid on another code.
Navarro said the Elections Committee will present its recommended sanctions to the Legislature tomorrow at the 3 p.m. meeting in rooms A-E in the Student Center.