RHA to have reelection

The Residence Halls Association’s election commissioners have decided to redo elections in Ashton Center, Briscoe Quad, Willkie Quad and Read Center, after considering complaints from the Chuck Norris ticket regarding election code violations.
 
The commissioners disqualified a member of the Hoosier Compass ticket, though officials declined to release the individual’s name Sunday.

“It was a very, very long process,” said senior Eric Gibson, current RHA president. “We read through complaints thoroughly and conducted our own research. We spoke with candidates of both sides and workers at center desks. Based on the election code, we feel we made the best decision.”

Because the Indiana Daily Student was informed of the changes before the tickets were notified, the IDS was not able to contact either ticket for comment.

According to the RHA elections code, no campaigning can occur within 50 feet of the polling stations. The Chuck Norris ticket claimed this code was violated, Gibson said.
The code states campaigning can consist of posters, fliers and ticket members being present, Gibson said.

The Chuck Norris ticket claimed the Hoosier Compass’ posters were within 50 feet of the polling stations in Briscoe and Read, Gibson said.

In Read and Willkie, candidates of the Hoosier Compass ticket were within 50 feet of the polling stations, Gibson said.

But at Willkie, junior Sheldon Raisor, candidate for vice president of student affairs for the Hoosier Compass ticket, committed an infraction, Gibson said.

Raisor works at the Willkie center desk and was working during the elections – putting him too close to a polling location.

After Raisor realized he was in violation of the elections code, he went to an election commissioner to rectify the situation, Gibson said.

Ashton was not mentioned as a violation, according to the Chuck Norris ticket’s paper work, but it was “an election commission decision that the elections had not been properly publicized,” Gibson said.

Gibson declined to release the name of the Hoosier Compass member who was disqualified.

“While clear mistakes were made, this candidate has been extremely valuable to this organization, and the last thing I want to do is smear their name through the public eye,” Gibson said.

Though Gibson said it was a hard decision, the election commission felt there were too many complaints against the candidate.

The Hoosier Compass has 48 hours to appeal to the RHA judicial board.

The new election will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday in the named residence halls.
“I don’t think this hurts us at all,” Gibson said. “This is the first competitive election for RHA. I think that speaks in terms of success for RHA.”

Gibson added that RHA executives and candidates do not want this situation to be reminiscent of last year’s IU Student Association elections.

“We want this to be handled fairly and adequately and not have it dragging on forever like IUSA,” Gibson said.