Melany Varela | Staff Writer
Hours before the start of the election season for SGA, the political party known as “The Future Is You” got disqualified. Many candidates are left scrambling to reorganize their campaigns, faced with the uncertainty of whether to run independently or drop-out of the race.
The Election Board, consisting of Nikolaos Psarrakos and Sofia Gonzalez-Orbegoso, sent out an email on March 3 to The Future Is You saying that the party was found guilty of a tier-one violation of the Student Government Association, referencing Statutes 6004.1.1 which states:
“Any candidate or political party that wishes to qualify for the General Election must comply with the provisions of this Elections Code and the Student Government Association governing documents.”
And for violations regarding the SGAS Appendix 1.2:
“The SGA Seal shall be used at the discretion of the Student Body President. Its use shall be reserved for formal documents, objects representing the Office of the Student Body President, ceremonial objects, and other uses at the discretion of the Student Body President.”
In other words, The Future is You was disqualified for improper use of the SGA seal, per SGAS Appendix 1.2.
The Election Board maintains that “The Future Is You Party” violated the SGAS 6004.1.1 statute, as shown in the screenshot above.
Later, a meeting was organized in regard to the violations.
“Our party chair had an emergency and he wasn’t able to show up to the meeting on time, and it wasn’t communicated to him an alternate date for it” said German Mata, a political science student running for senator of the School of International and Public Affairs in an interview with PantherNOW.
“As presidential candidates neither one of us had received an email in regard to the issue and this matter,” said Alexandra Barriga, a biology major who is running for president of SGA. “We were uninformed that a meeting was taking place, […] We would have made arrangements to assist.”
“We cannot find any evidence anywhere of us using that [The SGA seal], so we dont believe that they have any proof,” said Mata. “We would have been able to show that they had no proof, had we been informed of the meeting, but only one person was informed.”
The election board reached a conclusion to disqualify the party, according to Mata. “I do not believe it’s fair,” said Mata.
Additionally, a new requirement implemented for this election season under SGAS section 6011.1.1 states that “failure to attend meeting sessions as mandated by this Elections Code” results in a tier one violation.
These meetings refer to information sessions that candidates can attend as a way to know more in-depth about the elections process and their role as senators or president of SGA.
Failure to attend the last minute mandatory meeting resulted in many candidates getting disqualified.
“I don’t remember that happening last year, so I’m very surprised to see it happen this year, the fact that they made a meeting mandatory and could not give an alternative like joining online or something,” said Mata. “People work, people may not be even in the state, maybe they are online students.”
“Within the constitution it states that everyone that has anything to do with SGA affiliations or any events that are happening under SGA has the ability to request for appropriate and fair accommodations,” said Barriga. “There were no accommodations for anyone, and [they stated] was that it was fair because no one got accommodations, when in reality everyone has a different situation.”
Amidst the recent changes, Mata is raising his concerns and elaborating his frustrations with the way things were handled.
“I would like a fair election in the Student Government, and I would like for the election support to look at this with transparency. And I don’t believe I’m seeing the transparency I would like to see,” said Mata. “I’m not talking about another party, I’m not talking about any group on campus. It’s just that I’m currently unsatisfied with the service I received from the Elections Board.”
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