According the decision below by the Rules and Elections Committee, Ben Hunt won the April 22 election with 55% of the vote. The decision says that the result is not certified by RNE. We’re looking into what that means.
The J-Board has ruled that RNE must release the results of the April 22 Elections. Just a note: this decision may be appealed to the Review Board, made up of 2 faculty members, 1 administrator, and two students to be appointed by the Grand Marshal, subject to the approval of the Student Senate.
The question is: will RNE release the results tonight, as ordered by the Judicial Board, or will they wait for a pending Review Board case? Will Zwack have to appoint two students to the review board? Will someone else appoint two students? Will it be appealed at all? We don’t know! Do you?
We got a little frustrated with the fact that the Poly’s website was last updated on March 24 (they’ve been very busy, as you’ll see below!) because their articles this week about the elections are very interesting and give a good range of what’s going on inside the Union. So what did we do? We put our competitiveness aside and digitized the latest issue of the poly for your reading pleasure. The text is searchable, too! For elections info, see pages 1, 3, 8,9, 10, and 11. Some great journalism and great opinion pieces. Also, for some fun, try searching for “Hunt” just to see how many times it appears (we found 44).
Today, the Judicial Board will hear Benjamin Hunt’s appeal of RNE’s Decision 12. If the last J-Board hearing is any indication, we probably won’t have results until late tonight, but we’re hoping it will be sooner. As soon as we get word, we will be posting the result.
In other news, the Victory Party for the Inanimate Objects Party (IOP) has been moved to next Wednesday, May 5. Here’s a statement (allegedly) from Arthur Galpin:
As a response to recent elections announcement, the IOP has decided to hold a “Victory Parade” and declare me the winner of the recent GM election. Thus, in the eyes of my supporters I am the true 144th Grand Marshal of RPI.
It will take place on Wednesday (today) at 12:45pm [the facebook page indicates that it was moved to May 5], starting at the fountain behind commons. The parade will leave shortly after 1pm and end outside the union.
You can read more about it on Facebook.
-Arthur Galpin
We the Editors asked the two GM candidates for comments regarding the current election situation. Mr. Hunt has posted his Judicial Board appeal online, which he says speaks for itself. Mr. Zwack’s comments are below.
RPI Students,
It’s been a long, stressful, and exhaustive few weeks (and counting). I am thankful for the support of my family, friends, and supporters in my campaign for Grand Marshal.
To address doubts in one broad stroke, I have maintained an honest campaign and will continue to do so. I invite any concerns which question that to be directed to me personally at the contact information below.
Are you confused about this year’s election? Do you wish you could just read a shortened version of what happened so you too can be “surprisingly well informed”? Well look no further!
April 12, 2010
Primary Elections are held. In the GM Race: Zwack, Hunt, Neidhardt, Shah. In the PU Race: Dicker, Askew, Mahonchak, and Spitz.
By a 3-1 Vote, the Rules and Elections Committee (RNE) announces Violation 11, which removes Ben Hunt’s campaign privileges. Ben Hunt files for an injunction, which is granted by the Judicial Board. The injunction allows Hunt to campaign and instructs RNE to withhold the election results pending a Judicial Board hearing.
April 13, 2010
Judicial Board unanimously overrules RNE Violation 11 in J-Board Decision 3, stating that Ben Hunt was not in violation of the Honor Code and instructing RNE to withhold election results for the GM race on April 12, 2010.
April 14, 2010
The Rules and Elections Committee issues Decision 7, which states that the April 15 election will be the Final Election with Zwack, Hunt, and Neidhardt on the ballot. There will be no primary.
Decision 7 is appealed, and in Decision 8, RNE rules that the April 15 election will be a primary for GM candidates, with the final election to be held on April 22.
April 15, 2010
The final elections for all candidates except GM takes place. The GM race on the ballot is a primary election.
April 17, 2010
The Rules and Elections Committee releases Decision 9, which announced that Zwack and Hunt win the GM Primary, and Spitz wins PU.
April 22, 2010
The final race for GM is held with Zwack and Hunt on the ballot.
April 23, 2010
Before the results are announced, the Rules and Elections Committee releases Decision 12, which nullifies the April 22 election and announces that the final race for GM will be held on May 4, 2010.
You’ve got to see this for yourself. RNE has nullified the latest GM election due to a number of violations allegedly committed by candidate Ben Hunt. You can view the decision here. Here’s why:
1. Ben Hunt’s Candidate Expense Sheets did not accurately reflect his expenditures. Section IV of theGM Week 2010 Elections Handbook states that “During the process of campaigning, a record of allexpenditures (including items received for free) must be kept along with receipts for all items.” Onthe expense sheet submitted on April 10th 2010, Ben Hunt expensed 15 plots at $5.25 per plot for atotal cost $78.75. The DotCIO printer report shows 30 plots printed between the beginning ofelections and April 9th for a total cost of $210.00.
2. Ben Hunt was found to have spent more money on his campaign that he was allotted. Section IV ofthe GM Week 2010 Handbook states that “No candidate may exceed the following limits: For theoffices of Grand Marshal and President of the Union: $300 is the maximum.” Grand MarshalCandidates were granted an extra 25% toward their spending limits per Decision 10. Ben Hunt wassanctioned 5% of his expenditure limit per Violation 13, 10% of his expenditure limit per Violation17, and 5% of his expenditure limit per Violation 20. His total expenditure limit as of April 22nd was$304.59. An audit of Ben Hunt’s finances performed by the Rules and Elections Committeediscovered expenditures in excess of $426.98. It is know that Ben Hunt has incurred additionalexpenses from plotting beyond this, but due to limits of the DotCIO printing system, thisinformation was unable to be obtained in a timely fashion.
3. Several students campaigning with Ben Hunt were found to have not completed a CandidateAssistant Form. Section V of the GM Week 2010 Elections Hanbook states that “Candidates mayonly be assisted in campaign activities by Activity Fee-paying RPI students. These students mustcomplete a Candidate Assistance Form that is signed by both the candidate and the assistant.” OnApril 22nd, these students were observed either helping prepare and give out food, solicitingpeople for Ben Hunt votes, or yelling out “Vote Ben Hunt for GM”. This violation was reported toBen Hunt around 1pm and eight candidate assistant forms were submitted later in the afternoon.
4. Ben Hunt was seen campaigning with a grill owned by the Rensselaer Union and consumingpropane purchased by the Rensselaer Union. Section IV of the GM Week Elections Handbook statesthat “No candidate or party may be supported by Union funds or supplies.” Ben Hunt laterreplenished the propane using his own finances. The use of the grill was later permitted by RNE andits usage was expensed by Ben Hunt.5. Several Ben Hunt plots were found in the Rensselaer Union on the day of elections. Section XI ofthe GM Week Elections Handbook states that “No campaigning or campaign material is allowed inor on polling site buildings after 10 pm on the days before voting and voting itself.” The plots werefound at approximately 4pm and were found in the East Lobby of the Rensselaer Union.
The final election will be held May 4, and candidates have been allowed an extra $150 to spend until then. That is… unless there’s another Judicial Board case.
What a close race for Grand Marshal!
The full results are available here from the RNE. Since there seemed to be no other central place for the student body to find out the results, we thought it would be a good idea to post them on here, so they are below!
Latest from the GM Recently on the ACB
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