Written by Steven Cooper and Cameron Kast
In a judicial ruling issued today, the 2018 student government election for president and vice president was declared invalid.
The ruling leaves the 2018-2019 ASWSUV president and vice president roles unfilled. President-elect Vince Chavez and Vice President-Elect Davina Cepeda were originally thought to be the winners of those positions. The two candidates secured 55 percent of the vote in the March 7 election—surpassing the opposing ticket of Caroline Brenner and Zeke Estes.
In the ruling invalidating the election by the WSU Pullman-based Associated Students of Washington State University Judicial Board, the justices said “a suggested remedy following the ruling will be submitted within five school days.” The ruling provides no indication of what such a remedy would be, but could possibly include a second election held before the end of the semester.
The Pullman Judicial Board issued the decision via email to those directly involved in the hearings on April 5. As of 9 p.m. on April 10, the decision had not been sent to anyone else, including the WSU Vancouver student body, current student government officials and Senate candidates not named in the complaints. The VanCougar received a copy of the decision shown below from Estes.
The majority decision written by Pullman Chief Justice Bailey Fillinger invalidated the presidential election under their interpretation of ASWSUV Bylaw 610.05. That Bylaw prohibits a member of the Elections Board for running for a student government position in the same year they serve on the board. Because Vice President-Elect Davina Cepeda served on the Elections Board for the first part of the 2017-2018 academic year before resigning, the justices ruled her candidacy invalid. The ruling also prohibits her from running in any student government election to fill positions for the 2018-2019 academic year. At the hearing, Cepeda argued that she was only on the Elections Board for July and August of 2017 and that she did not actually serve on the board because the board never met or conducted business.
In the same decision, the Judicial Board also addressed complaints filed by Presidential Candidate Caroline Brenner against the WSU Vancouver Election Board. Four members served on the board: Danick Gershun, Sarah Martinez, Alejandra Barriere and Christopher Feener. Pullman’s Judicial Board ruled the “ASWSUV Election Board to be ineffective and unable to provide oversight during an ASWSUV election.” The ruling further stated, “We request that the ASWSUV Election Board be disbanded and new Election Board members be appointed.”
Based on the justices’ evaluation of the Election Board’s performance, the ruling states that the “ASWSU Judicial Board requires that the ASWSUV Presidential Election for the 2018/2019 school year be invalidated.” The written decision concludes by stating that “a suggested remedy following this ruling will be submitted within five (5) school days.”
Whether the request to disband the Elections Board or the not-yet-issued remedy are binding is unclear. In the immediate aftermath of the election, the Judicial Board for the Vancouver campus did not have the three justices required by the ASWSUV Constitution to hear cases. In an unprecedented action, the complaints were instead referred to the Judicial Board for WSU Pullman. According to current ASWSUV President Jose Scott, the Vancouver Judicial Board now has the necessary three justices and is currently reviewing the complaints to issue their own opinion. Based on the language used in the decision, Scott said he currently considers remedies proposed by Pullman to be non-binding.
The Judicial Board has not yet issued rulings on all complaints regarding the election. At the hearings on April 5, the board heard allegations by former Election Board members against the Brenner/Estes ticket, as well as additional allegations by Brenner and Estes against Senate Candidate Colten Sullivent and the Chavez/Cepeda ticket. While the board has until April 15 to render a verdict, Fillinger indicated in the email announcing the first ruling that the other decisions would be issued by April 12.
Follow our website for updates and watch for our full election story in print on April 16.
Correction: Scott has clarified that his comments on whether the ruling is binding apply only to the “remedy” for the decision, not the decision itself. A previous version of this story implied that the ruling itself could be non-binding.
[pdf-embedder url=”http://thevancougar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ASWSUV-2018-03.pdf” title=”ASWSUV 2018-03″]