Disqualifications Almost Decide USG President Early
By George Agathos and Matt Willemain Two of the three candidates for president of the Undergraduate Student Government were disqualified from the ballot Friday night by the elections board, leaving Sen. Joe Antonelli to run unopposed in next week's elections, according to Elections Board Chair Max Sequeira. The decision has since been overturned by the USG's Supreme Court. The decision came by way of an elections board meeting held off campus in the midst of Friday's winter storm. Incumbent President Romual Jean-Baptiste and Vice President of Academic Affairs Chinelo Onochie were both disqualified after controversy over using the Facebook group for USG's Tiki Barber event to promote their campaigns, according to information released by the board. Earlier Friday, Jean-Baptiste also announced his withdrawal from the race for unrelated reasons, according to officials in the board. Jean-Baptiste confirmed this on Saturday, saying he withdrew from the race for president because he realized it's his last year and he needs to focus on academics. Onochie indicated she wasn't yet satisfied the decision; "They haven't heard the last of me," she said. Any appeals would have to be decided on and finalized before the voting starts at noon on March 19, this Monday, according to Sequeira. The board saw evidence that Jean-Baptiste posted a campaign photo of himself to the event which read, "“RE-ELECT ROMUAL JEAN-BAPTISTE as your USG PRESIDENT!” on March 4. Jean-Baptiste denied having done so at a March 15 meeting convened to discuss the allegations with the elections board. The next day, on March 5, Onochie sent a campaign message to all members of the group who had indicated they would attend the event. The board said Onochie admitted sending the message. Onochie organized the Tiki Barber event and mentioned it in her campaign's Facebook group. I created a speakers' bureau where students can get the benefit of listening and learning from those that have achieved great success in different areas of their lives. Tiki Barber (our first USG sponsored) speaker gave a talk on the "Pursuit of Excellence: leadership, determination, and success". The purpose of this speech is to motivate students and inspire them to "Be all they can Be". Through this event, we were able to raise $1450 for the student giving campaign. Thanks to all who showed up.
Originally, Jean-Baptiste initiated an investigation in response to Onochie's campaign messages. Onochie then provided evidence of Jean-Baptiste's posting, which she had deleted from the group, to the recently appointed district advocate, Alex Ovtcharenko, who was conducting the investigation. The board's release, signed by Sequeira, said Jean-Baptiste then denied having posted the image to both Ovtcharenko and Sen. Robert Romano, who advises the elections board. The board said Jean-Baptiste then called off the investigation. The elections board's investigation, however, found the candidate's actions to be in violation of the USG's constitution. Article II, Section 2.C. of the Constitution states that, “[T]he organization [Undergraduate Student Government] shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.” By utilizing a marketing campaign for a USG-funded and sponsored event as a political platform, whether or not the candidates were aware that doing so was a violation, Onochie and Jean-Baptiste have violated one of the most important clauses in our Constitution.
The issue is not a new one; last year's USG elections saw incumbent Sam Darguin accused of a similar violation regarding the use of his office to produce campaign materials. He was not disqualified in time for the election and ended up losing to Jean-Baptiste by nine votes, rendering any later decision moot in terms of affecting the elections. This year, the elections board cited he precedent established in the associated USG court case (Romano, Borodkin, and Shapiro v. Darguin) to justify the candidate's disqualification. The question that the court needed to decide was if USG is participating in a political campaign by allowing its office to be used for a political campaign. We have decided unanimously that it is. We have concluded that any elecitoneering within the walls of a USG office, whether it be the USG suite or the Senate office, is unconstitutional. We recommend that in the future, any person caught doing such should be disqualified from the election.
Antonelli said the disqualifications were unfortunate. "I was kinda looking forward to [an election]," he said. The Board has acted swiftly to remove these candidates from the ballot for the sake of the integrity of the elections. Candidates, especially incumbent USG officers, must realize that using USG-sponsored events to market their own political campaigns violates the Constitution since the USG is not allowed to directly participate in, or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.
Last Updated March 17, 11:50 p.m. (added comment form Jean-Baptiste)
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