Ryan Moore, News Editor
Alex Kvaskov, Assistant News Editor
Tatiana Prisiajny, Features Editor
Featured image courtesy of Michael Zusev, Photo Editor
Voting in this year’s undergraduate Board of Governors representative election has opened amid considerable scandal and controversy.
Allegations of bribery have bubbled to the surface, possibly muddying the waters of this year’s election process.
York media says the matter is under review to determine an appropriate response.
Last week, Excalibur was in contact with Tashwiq Khan, administrative studies student and BoG candidate, who drew attention to the existence of a video that showed a fellow candidate allegedly attempting to bribe him to withdraw from the election. Follow ups with candidates allegedly involved with the incident went unanswered.
In an interview with Excalibur, Khan claims the video footage has now been destroyed.
Chief Returning Officer Sayjon Ariyarathnam says he cannot comment on allegations while elections are ongoing.
“The accused candidate has stepped down and is not on the ballot, thus maintaining the integrity of the system,” he says.
Bribery wasn’t the only issue bedeviling the election, as allegations of improper conduct and interference from York administration were made.
Previously, candidate Nikki Sadeghi was declared ineligible to run.
According to Janice Walls of York media, students must submit all information by a certain deadline to be eligible. Sadeghi was deemed ineligible, having missed the application deadline, which was ruled to not be a technical malfunction.
The Student Senator Caucus CRO and deputy returning officer communicated the decision to the student in question. Upon appeal, the Secretariat agreed to facilitate an email survey of all members of SSC to determine support for the decision.
“This survey was facilitated by the Secretariat rather than the leadership of SSC to ensure there would be no conflict of interest or even an appearance of conflict of interest on the part of those who had made the initial decision,” adds Walls.
“The survey simply asked student senators if they confirmed the decision. A second request was sent to ensure that all student senators received the original survey and had an opportunity to record their view. Results were reported to the CRO and DRO who then acted.”
The Secretariat provides logistical support to the CRO, similar to the support it provides to Board committees. Support includes receiving, compiling, and forwarding nominations, and connecting the CRO with other offices, according to Walls.
Walls says the CRO advised the Secretariat a few days ago about allegations of a bribe.
“The Secretariat noted the seriousness of the alleged incident and advised the CRO to speak to the student who had allegedly offered the bribe and see what his or her response to the allegation was,” says Walls.
Within hours, the CRO informed Secretariat that the student who allegedly offered a bribe had stepped down from the election, with his name being removed from the list of candidates seeking to become a member of the BoG.
“The fact that the student who allegedly offered a bribe was quickly removed from the slate of candidates has helped to ensure the integrity of the election this week, but we will be looking at further potential consequences and recommendations as a result of this event,” she adds.
“The administration has only spoken to the CRO. No member of the administration has had any communication with the student who was allegedly offered a bribe, nor suggested he should destroy the video and not speak about the matter.”
Had student senators opted to overturn the SSC leadership’s decision, the campaign would have been extended in length. Khan expressed concern over the election being called off and doesn’t see the additional campaigning time as an advantage. In his words, he attends campus events all year long, which is his form of campaigning.
Voting is expected to close on March 18.
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