The ASUO Elections Board reversed its decision to remove presidential candidate Michelle Haley from the ballot Wednesday after consultation with University administrators.
The elections board made its initial ruling Tuesday night after finding that evidence it had been presented indicated that Haley’s Oregon Action Team slate had distributed alcohol to minors, which the board defined as bribery.
The University’s Information Technology department called Elections Coordinator Aaron Tuttle at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to inform him that it would not pull the names of Haley and her running mate Ted Sebastian from the ballot after consultation with the University administration.
“I believe that there was an e-mail and some consultations that resulted in our not taking the names off the ballot,” University technologist Noreen Hogan said.
“The only instruction that was given was that, prior to anyone being removed from the ballot, I would like to know,” Vice President for Student Affairs Robin Holmes said.
“We’re working to schedule a time to meet with members of the administration sometime this afternoon so that we can hopefully remedy this confusion immediately,” ASUO Chief of Staff Andrew Plambeck said.
Plambeck said the executive had relaxed its position since Tuesday night, when ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz called the ruling “an act which greatly stains the integrity of our Association,” but added that “I cannot and will not attempt to stand in the way of this ruling.”
“A ruling has been handed down by a body that has the authority to do that, which is the elections board, and we stand behind that,” Plambeck said.
A statement released by Oregon Action Team campaign manager Marcus Krieg following the ruling said “Their ruling is based on hearsay. Literally, somebody (not even the minor allegedly furnished alcohol) told David Griffin that we furnished alcohol to minors and Griffin filed the grievance. Based on Oregon State law, you need to be caught in the act in order to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on these sorts of issues.”
“The Election Board determined that handing out OAT stickers was in violation of rule 2.4, but that is classified as campaign paraphernalia, which is protected by rule 2.4.: ‘with the exception of campaign paraphernalia,’ the statement read.
According to the statement, the Oregon Action Team believes the ruling “demonstrates once again how biased the Election Board has been against us.”
Tuttle provided the Emerald with copies of the Facebook messages that had influenced its decision. The conversation documented in the messages was between Haley and ASUO Sen. Deborah Bloom, who is running on the Students First slate to retain her seat representing journalism and exchange students.
“I am not denying that I believe some of our candidates attended that party and put stickers on shit and wore shirts,” Haley wrote. “But I wasn’t there to stop it and I, Ted and Marcus told them not to do it. I am more than willing to face the consequences of those candidates’ actions, and I realize they fucked up, but it definitely, 100 percent, was not okay with me.”
Tuttle also provided an additional e-mail from Students First candidate Jessica Jones, who said the Oregon Action Team had planned parties in which alcohol would be distributed to minors.
“In those early meetings, before spring term and campaigning began, they informed us that they would be holding giant parties, during campaigning, in which they would offer free alcohol in exchange for voting at the door, but that no member of the slate would be present and therefore this would not be violating the election rules. This was fully accepted by the candidates present,” Jones wrote.
Haley told the Emerald on Wednesday she and running mate Ted Sebastian never held any parties or provided anyone with alcohol and that the elections board did not have the authority to make a ruling on whether bribery had taken place.