With student government elections approaching, a myriad of campaign infractions have occurred. The Rules and Elections Committee of the Student Senate administers and regulates the elections process. Many of the infractions resulted in additional hours of community service. Each candidate is required to carry out two hours of service through helping the GM Week Committee.
Soraya Fouladi ’16 and Frankie LoPinto ’16 have been found in violation of Section 6.12 of the GM Week 2013 Elections Handbook, which involves respecting other candidate’s campaign flyers. Each candidate was required to do 30 minutes of additional community service during GM Week.
An additional hour of service was required from Christina Gilliland ’15 and Alexander Vitovitch ’15, as they submitted their nomination forms after the deadline. This was a violation of Section 3.3.
Haley Bryk ’15 and Wendy Wang ’15 violated the rule “No campaign materials may be posted in public areas of residence halls, other than candidates’ doors and other residents’ doors with their permission” from Section 6.20. The Rules and Elections Committee decided each candidate would have to reduce their expense limit by 1 percent for each poster found in violation. Fifteen posters were found to be in violation, resulting in a 15 percent reduction for each candidate.
“As we get closer to GM Week, please remember to keep your campaigns running cleanly,” William Toth ’13, Rules and Election Committee chair, told candidates. “This is a good opportunity to read through the Honor Code, which is Section 11 of the GM Week 2013 Handbook. If you plan on campaigning, including distributing campaign material or hanging up posters, remember to review Sections 5 & 6 of the handbook as well.”
“Student government office is a campus-wide trust,” states Section 11 of the Honor Code from the GM Week 2013 Elections Handbook. “Every candidate running for a student government office has an obligation to observe and uphold basic principles of decency, honesty, and fair play so that after a vigorously contested but fairly conducted campaign, students may exercise their constitutional right to a free and informed choice that expresses their will.”
Students can find information about the Rules and Elections Committee at http://elections.union.rpi.edu/ and the GM Week 2013 Elections Handbook at http://docs.studentsenate.rpi.edu/documents/2296/revisions/current/download/.