Presidential candidate challenges election board decision

Jonathan Szydlo/BBC Managing Editor

In light of a recent Student Government Council at the Biscayne Bay Campus Election Board decision, presidential candidate Pablo Haspel filed a writ of certiorari on March 14 with the SGC-BBC Supreme Court contesting the decision reached at the March 7 Election Board meeting.

The writ contests the legality of the SGC-BBC Election Board’s decision at the March 7 meeting to allow Oluwatobi Adekoya to switch from running for SGC-BBC vice president to president despite the Feb. 29 application deadline.

Citing SGC-BBC Elections Code 703.06 Subsection VII and 703.6 Subsection XI, Haspel is demanding that “the justices review this case, and make a determination that will fix the gross neglect of deadlines and procedures that occurred. There has to be legitimacy restored to deadlines or else no one will respect any of the governing documents of SGA.”

Haspel originally submitted a writ on March 9 with the SGC at the Modesto Maidique Campus Supreme Court due to fears that the BBC court would not rule partially upon his case.

“I am requesting that the MMC Supreme Court hear this case as opposed to the BBC court because I fear that the justices might be put under pressure by certain members of SGC-BBC and would like to have a fair judgement dealt that has no personal bias,” wrote Haspel in the writ submitted to the SGC-MMC Supreme Court.

The SGC-MMC Supreme Court denied Haspel’s request to hear his writ.

“To hear this case would be unconstitutional,” said SGC-MMC Supreme Court Chief Justice Octavio Melo in a written response to Haspel. “I’d like to emphasize that our vote to deny this case was not based on the merits of the claim, but on the jurisdictional issue presented.”

Regardless of the MMC court’s decision, Haspel is moving forward in attempting to rectify the violations that he has witnessed within SGC-BBC.

“The [SGC-BBC] elections board decision is a disgrace to SGA and a clear violation its own constitution,” said Haspel. “I hope that that BBC judiciary upholds its responsibility of being impartial and that they continue to be unbiased, regardless of outside influences.”

At time of press, no response was received from SGC-BBC Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Ochoa regarding whether or not the BBC court will hear the case.