A new class of senators and executive officers took its place within ASUCD in March, but a small group of dissenters continues to fight the results of the election.
Two complaints have been filed alleging that February’s election was unfair and that students were “disenfranchised” when the voting website went down for a three-and-a-half hour period.
The most recent complaint was filed with the ASUCD Court, which is currently processing the case. The case was delayed last week after the plaintiff, Christopher Ambriz, failed to submit a required document on time. A planned hearing has not yet been rescheduled.
The claim that students have been disenfranchised is highly suspect. Where are all these disenfranchised students? Where are the crowds of angry students because they didn’t get to vote?
Everyone who wanted to vote had an opportunity to vote, and there is no obvious or compelling evidence to the contrary. The election was extended for 3.5 hours in keeping with bylaws requiring elections to last for a 48-hour period.
If anything, it’s clear that the vast majority of students are not concerned and just want the issue to go away.
Given the lack of student support for this case, it’s difficult to gauge what the plaintiffs are actually after, especially since they have refused to speak with The Aggie. Ostensibly, they want the election to be held again, but in the broader scheme of things this would be a brazen disservice to students.
Aside from the fact that a new election would cost thousands of dollars in student fees, it would also force all the candidates to go back to the campaign trail and repeat the long and arduous process of getting their messages out to the voters. Moreover, recalling all the new senators and executive officers would result in a huge disruption in the operation of ASUCD – yet another blow to students who expect the student government to be making regular progress.
The glitches in the winter election presented an unusual and interesting turn of events that were nevertheless resolved promptly and appropriately at the time. Dragging this out any further only hurts students as a whole, and it begs the question of whether the people pushing this court case are merely serving their own narrow self-interests.
