Engage with IUSA filed another petition with the Student Body Supreme Court on Thursday after most involved parties believed the election to be over.
In part, the request for injunctive relief, assistance from a judicial body, claims the Election Commission did not take steps to verify the winning Empower IU ticket’s financial statements. The appeal cites the verification of previous years’ financial statements by members of the commission before submission to the court for final approval.
The appeal coincided with the end of senior Sara Zaheer’s term as IU Student Association president.
She said she was told to ignore the issues outlined in the petition.
“There are other people who are upset about some of the behavior and conduct that they’ve seen,” Zaheer said.
She said her peers believed candidates should follow regulations set forth in the IUSA bylaws and procedural election code. The petition cites an Indiana Daily Student article published April 12.
In the article, Empower’s presidential candidate Dan Niersbach, a junior, said people who read the code and bylaws wouldn’t have made mistakes that they did.
Additionally, Engage’s appeal cited Niersbach’s statement on an account created at IU Credit Union for the purpose of the campaign.
Two contributions listed on Empower’s final financial statement were designated in-kind donations, but the corresponding receipts show the account in question was used to purchase these items.
Engage’s appeal asked for the commission to review the financial statements but also asked members of the court to review the statements themselves if they found the reported conflict of interest of junior Eric Langowski, the chair of the commission, to be inappropriate.
Looking back on her term in office, Zaheer said her administration sought to be proactive as opposed to responding to immediate issues brought to IUSA.
She said an open line of communication with stakeholders on campus was something she was proud her administration accomplished with strategies such as instituting liaisons with cultural centers.
She admitted that one academic year wasn’t enough time to accomplish everything listed in her original platform. One item Zaheer said would’ve been seen as difficult to achieve was a social justice course requirement.
“That’s actually going to come up at Tuesday’s BFC meeting,” said Zaheer, referring to the Bloomington Faculty Council.
Zaheer said one of her biggest regrets was an inability to have strong relationships with IUSA Congress. She said the disputes with members of Congress became a power struggle, though she didn’t specifically name any individuals. She said it’s a disservice to students in the end because IUSA wants to be more productive.