An 11th hour decision by the ASUO Constitution Court has given candidates Bret Jacobson and Matt Cook a second chance to win the student presidency — and has completely halted today’s general election.
The court will hold a March 16 hearing at which it will decide to uphold or overturn an ASUO Elections Board decision that removed Jacobson and Cook from Thursday’s primary election.
The pair placed second and would have battled Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair in the general election starting today had they not been disqualified by the board.
In the court’s decision, Chief Justice Robert Raschio said the court will also use its power to immediately halt the general election until the court can rule on Jacobson’s appeal. Jacobson said his campaign will file its official appeal statement with the court today.
Raschio said the court will decide on the appeal no later than 5 p.m. March 19.
The ruling also halts voting on senate races and ballot measures for OSPIRG and the Multicultural Center, which would have begun today as well.
The ASUO Elections Board released the primary election results and its decision to remove Jacobson and Cook at the same time last Thursday in response to a grievance filed by another candidate, Jeff Oliver.
The top two finishers in the primary advance to the general election. Oliver and his presidential running mate, Eric Bailey, placed third, but received the opportunity to advance after the board disqualified Jacobson and Cook.
Oliver filed the grievan ce after Jacobson’s campaign volunteers distributed fliers outside doors in the residence halls before the primary election. Oliver said the action broke election rules requiring equal access for all candidates to University facilities.
He added that University Housing also adopted a Residence Hall Association rule that candidates could place a poster in each of the common areas of the four complex lobbies, but not in the actual residence halls.
The board agreed, and Jacobson said he decided to appeal the decision during the weekend.
“We couldn’t let it go without a fight,” he said.
Jacobson actually asked the court to place him on the general election ballot against Brooklyn and Nair, but he said he and Cook are more than happy with the current results.
“We’re happy that at least the court is going to take into account campus democracy,” Jacobson said. “This is a big victory for campus democracy.”
Jacobson has two main points he will bring to the March 16 hearing. First, he said the elections board simply told his campaign to examine the rules instead of specifically telling them whether it was legal to campaign in the residence halls.
He also contends that although the board can use Housing rules in its decision, t he board incorrectly considered him and Cook guilty because Housing never released any ruling on the matter.
“It’s like if we were accused of a federal crime, the board would not be so quick to bring their own charges,” he said. “The elections board d idn’t have the jurisdiction to find us guilty. Our due process was just obliterated.”
He also criticized the board for not giving his campaign enough time to respond to Oliver’s’ grievance before a decision was made.
“We effectively had three hours to defend ourselves,” he said.
Elections Coordinator Shantell Rice was not available for comment at press time.
With the ruling, everyone running must decide how to conduct a campaign that will run at least another two weeks instead of four days. Oliver said he and Bailey will still be on the streets campaigning today though the court could end their run.
“It’s kind of tough to campaign for an election when you don’t know what it’s going to be,” Oliver said. “But as far as we know, we’re running in this election.””