University student Evan Stewart filed a grievance Friday afternoon against Dallas Brown and Emily McLain after supporters of their ASUO Executive campaign offered discounted prices for keg cups at a party in exchange for votes – preferably for the Brown-McLain ticket. Stewart’s grievance said this was a violation of election rules.
The ASUO Elections Board ruled in Stewart’s favor less than two hours after he filed the grievance. The ruling said selling alcohol at a discounted rate for votes and encouraging voters to endorse the Brown-McLain ticket “is a direct violation.”
According to the ASUO Elections Rules, providing a “thing of value in return for compliance with such efforts to promote or oppose an election or ballot measure outcome” is prohibited.
Stewart wrote “I think we all agree that alcohol qualifies as ‘something of value’.” He added that such a promotional party “could severely skew the ASUO primary election results,” which were released at 5 p.m. Friday evening.
ASUO Elections Coordinator Ryan Coussens did not receive Brown and McLain’s response to the grievance before the Elections Board made the ruling just before 5 p.m. Coussens said the evidence was sufficient to make a ruling. Only he and the case investigator Lisa Harris were in the room when the ruling was decided. Coussens said he called the other three Board members to confirm it. Elections Rules do not require the Board to give all parties involved in a grievance the opportunity to present their cases.
The ruling was based on the testimony of former Emerald reporter Katy Gagnon, who was at the party, and an Emerald article published Friday, Coussens said.
“This is someone that I am counting on as a legitimate person of society,” Coussens said of Gagnon. “This person was someone who worked for the Emerald, that means I take their word for some kind of legitimacy in society… So whatever they decide is fine. But as far as I’m concerned, I’ve head what I’ve heard.”
As punishment, the Elections Board said if Brown and McLain advanced to the general election they could not campaign between 2 p.m. and 10 a.m., hours during which Coussens said they were least likely to be drinking. Brown and McLain placed fourth out of the five ASUO Executive tickets and will not advance to next week’s general elections.
Neither Brown nor McLain were available for comment.
ASUO Programs Administrator David Goward, who is dating Stewart, said he told Coussens at about 2 a.m. Friday that he was thinking of filing a grievance. He decided not to because ASUO representatives were asked to remain neutral during the elections, he said.
Friday morning, Coussens said someone was planning on filing a grievance but couldn’t hand it in personally because the source was going out of town. The source told Coussens that a friend would drop off the grievance.
The Emerald called Goward for comment and he said he had left Eugene early Friday morning. He said he did not influence Stewart’s decision to file a grievance.
“My influence is none. I do not control my boyfriend or what he does,” Goward said.
Stewart confirmed this, stating that he filed the grievance on his own accord.
Goward said he didn’t tell Stewart that he had considered filing a grievance.
“Evan never knew that I was even contemplating it. I told Evan that I would not be filing a grievance,” Goward said.
Goward and Brown are interim co-directors of the Designated Driver Shuttle, and Goward said he has nothing against Brown.
“No, I have nothing against Dallas. We have a great working relationship.”
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