Elections do-over: Court rules “voter fraud took place”

By Melhor Leonor / Asst. News Director

In a rare occurrence, the Student Government Supreme Court ruled “voter fraud took place” during the 2012 presidential elections, mandating a Special Election.

In the opinion released by the court, the panel states that the fraud was so widespread that it “tainted the results of the election.”

The court also determined that the because of the closeness of the race, the tainted results “raise serious doubt about the legitimacy of the election results.”

With the evidence presented by the petitioner, the court was able to rule on the legitimacy of the allegations of voter fraud by third-party individuals, yet, also stated that the petitioner failed to prove that the campaign in question “requested, enabled, or in some other way facilitated the actions of the third party.”

As a result, the court vacated the results of the FIU Student Government Council at the Modesto Maidique Campus, and directed the Elections Board to conduct a special election.

“This has hit like a concussion bomb and we are at a worst case scenario,” said Jose Toscano, assistant director of Campus Life. “Right now looking at the calendar we have graduations, finals week and pre-finals week, the last week of classes. This is going to affect the electoral process for [both] students at-large and the students trying to get elected.”

In the opinion, the court recommends that the elegible candidates “should have a time…to conduct a new campaign for votes.”

“I’m going to speak to the court regarding that recommendation,” Toscano said. “I think they’ve campaigned enough.”

Additionally, the court held that only candidates who ran for the president and vice-president positions will be elegible to participate in the special elections. These include Sanjeev Udhnani and running mate Connor Mautner, Samir Patel and Andres Wu, along with Farinas and Castro.

“I know the implications of this decision,” said Udhnani, who originally submitted the allegations of voter fraud. “I know this is going to be tough on the student body but I also think it’s fair. This case made history and changes the way we view the election process.”

“I hope [the elections don’t] get in the way of finals week and that it doesn’t impede on university academics,” Patel said. “I’m grateful for this second chance.”

The use of mobile polling stations was addressed by the court as being in violation of the Election’s Code. The court specifically referred to “campaign workers carrying computers around campus, accosting innocent students and soliciting votes for their candidate.”

According to Toscano, the election’s board will have to meet with IT in order to predict possible voting days. Among the possibilities are the last days of finals week and the second to third week of Summer A.

“It won’t be solid and we might have technical issues,” Toscano said. “They key is that we need to elect and ensure we have the progression of SGA leadership.”