Presidential candidates upset with TCUJ ruling

The lack of precedent or constitutional guidelines for dealing with a candidate rescinding a nomination has thrown student government into a constitutional crisis, and presidential hopefuls Joe Mead and Chike Aguh say there is no way that the upcoming election can be conducted fairly.

Beyond the difficulties posed to any candidate by the delay in the timing of the election, the various Senate motions, complaints, TCUJ hearings, and ELBO actions have created a quagmire, and student government leaders can't agree on a legitimate way to get out. The latest decision by the TCUJ, calling for the re-nomination of a second candidate but letting Mead's stand did nothing to settle the issue, as senators say the TCUJ directed ELBO and the Senate to take an unconstitutional action.

The TCUJ said that the Senate is able to ignore its decision in the first nominations meeting earlier last week, and it may have used that precedent in overturning the Aguh nomination.

"It was not a past meeting. It was a single motion," TCUJ chair Adam Biacchi said. "In effect these nominations are all just trying to find a replacement for Randy to face Joe in the election." Throwing out the entire nominations vote, Biacchi said, would have been unfair to Mead.

However, Mead himself does not see how throwing out half a vote is constitutional. The votes for both candidates were cast on a single ballot, and only one motion to vote was made.

"As much as I do want to have an election, I don't think we can or should violate the constitution," Mead said.

Both Mead and Aguh say they will let the TCUJ's decision stand for the sake of getting on with the election and doing what they see is in the best interest of the students -- providing them with a choice for president. But they cannot stop others in student government from appealing the TCUJ's decision or challenging tomorrow night's meeting.

Beyond the constitutional issues, the delay in the election is likely to have an adverse affect on voter turnout, Mead and Aguh say, because students won't know when the election is taking place. Both said that they spent countless hours over the long weekend telling students to come out and vote on Wednesday.

But more than confusion, given that spring fling is this weekend and classes end on Monday, students are not likely to have time to pay attention much attention to the election -- which could be held either Friday or Monday.

"The closer you get to the weekend, people are doing other things," Aguh said.

A lack of turnout could hurt the constitutional referendum that is also on the ballot, as 20 percent of students must vote for a referendum to be counted.

But more than turnout, Aguh and Mead see this situation as having a negative impact in other ways. Not only does the controversy reinforce students' negative stereotypes of student government, Aguh said, it creates internal problems for the Senate. In-house elections for executive board positions will likely have to be held during reading period, which would be stressful to senators who have schoolwork to do, as they are likely to be contested and could take up to six or seven hours to complete.

All this chaos is occurring because of the unprecedented situation, Mead and Aguh say. The Senate is in transition right now, as it operates without an executive board until after the Presidential election. The lack of leadership and defined rules makes it difficult for student government members to determine the correct and constitutional course of action.

And there is no precedent for dealing with a candidate rescinding his nomination.

"The minute Mr. Newsom decided to pull out, the constitution was unfit to deal with the situation," Aguh said. "The people who are in this right now are trying the best they can. This has never happened before, in any fact."