SGA election results announced, Elliot Dickerson is President-Elect
Isaiah Nelson, winning commanding lead in votes, disqualified from presidential election
Sophomore Isaiah Nelson, the student body Vice-President, has been disqualified from the Student Government Association's presidential election after exceeding the $400 campaign expenditure limit. Mr. Nelson won 70 percent of the vote, handily beating sophomore Treasurer Elliot Dickerson.
The election results were due at 7 p.m. and came more than an hour late, presumably to allow the Election Commission, chaired by Austin Garland, to review Mr. Nelson's campaign expenditure forms.
The disqualification appears to be in relation to Mr. Nelson's web hosting expenditures.
Mr. Nelson confirmed with CisternYard his intent to challenge the results. Mr. Dickerson is the student body President-Elect, barring any successful challenge by Mr. Nelson.
Ross Kressel won 44 percent of the vote for Vice-President and will challenge runner-up Cory Maran in a runoff election. Alexander Kirby was eliminated from the Vice-Presidential election, but is a junior Senator-Elect.
There will be a runoff election for Treasurer candidates Nicole Trevisan and J.K. Lawler. Ms. Trevisan won 38% of the vote.
The runoff election will be held on Tuesday on CougarTrail. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Full results from the election.
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02.10.12 | 3:46 pm
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In response to democracy being usurped, explain to me how Obama's healthcare bill just got passed when the majority of the people don't want it.
The Election Commission revisited the disqualification and voted to reverse its decision of disqualification.
Isaiah Nelson is now the President-elect.
It didn't even have to go to Honor Council. They admitted they were wrong, as so many people below have said and so many people since have said.
This sounds pretty familiar.
As a former member of the Student Government, as well as a former Elections Commission member, I am so disappointed that the students of CofC cannot see that there is a reason for rules and bylaws, and consequences for not adhering. If Isaiah spent more that his allotted budget, he should be disqualified.
The reason a budget was originally proposed was to prevent people from "buying" their election. As college students, some people do not have a bunch of money to blow on campaign materials. By putting a cap on their spending, it gives an equal playing field.
All candidates are required to read the elections packet and sign that they have read it. If someone does not follow these rules they are automatically disqualified.
This has been an issue year after year. When will people learn not to go over budget? In the real world, if you do not follow the rules you are disqualified, and there is no Honor Council to save you. Grow up and follow the rules, and stop complaining and whining when you get in trouble for not doing so.
Because Nathan is so specific...dumbass
Major props to "biased person" for his Dude reference!
And why is everyone posting anonymously? You kids can't stand up for what you believe in?
This is all fine and dandy, but the real question is this:
Why is "British people" a related term for this article?
This is what we should be wondering about!
Isaiah didn't break the rules.
The election commission misunderstood his forms and didn't come to ask him.
They actually disqualified him for something that they told him he could do. That's the worst part. They said it was OK and then DQ'd him. This is gonna get overturned, I guaran-dam-tee it.
Democracy has been usurped, 70% of the student body can't be wrong! Even if Elliot does end up president he will have to deal with the knowledge that he won because simply because of technicality and not properly elected by the student body. Look at the other elections for Treasurer and Secretary, both Nicole Trevisian(44%) and Ross Kressel(38%) got a higher percentage than Elliot(30%) attained and yet they both have to enter a run-off. I hope i am not the only one bothered by this injustice.
The elections here are a joke, last year no one could vote for senators in their class, and now this happens....wow
The bylaws were there the entire time. All candidates knew the rules and stipulations. If he was careless enough to make a mistake like that on an important campaign, I don't want him as my President.
To anyone who thinks this is some FIJI conspiracy, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If I remember correctly, FIJI didn't even exist when Seaton was elected so I'm not sure how you could even come up with this. If you want someone from another organization to be President, RUN SOMEONE FOR PRESIDENT! Don't badmouth a fraternity that has done nothing wrong just because you're mad about how the election turned out. Second and most importantly, as Vice President for the last year, Isaiah should know those bylaws better than anyone. I hope the Honor council holds this against him because he wouldn't be supporting a senator or council member who broke the election rules. He could have avoided this disqualification, it's time he deals with it like an adult. As for the school, if Isaiah's appeal doesn't go through, we will have an amazing President in Elliot. He's HONEST and a great guy. I hope you will all see that and support him.
I'm worried by this comment. You seem to be ignoring innocent-before-proven-guilty and, if you really are a member of the Honor Council, you might want to either a) recuse yourself from the case or b) re-examine your comments.
The Supreme Court doesn't assume lower courts were correct when it takes up a case and the Honor Council should do the same.
I'm just glad Isaiah didn't win. Got what he deserved.
As a member of the Honor Council, I can state that Sean Bear has already recused himself from any appeals processes associated with the presidential election.
Additionally, why is everyone so focused on Fiji? Sure the chair of the commission is in Fiji but also on the commission are Director of Student Life - Dr. Susan Payment, Dean of Students - Dr. Jeri Cabot, SGA representatives - Katie Moske, Anne DuPre, McCord Henry, and Honor Council members - Erica Kramer, Kim Anderson, and Nick Holt.
Stop being such extremists and look at the facts. SGA has by-laws for a reason and it appears that, in the eyes of the election commission, at least one candidate has violated those by-laws.
This will not stand, ya know, this aggression will not stand, man.
...I hope you realize that Fiji doesnt gain anything, regardless of who is the president
isaiah followed the rules and spent under $400 - about $385 actually.
the election commission was charging him twelve times the cost he spent for one item of his receipts. that's why he went over. he didn't ACTUALLY go over. they just decided that they wanted him to go over and found a way to make it happen.
I think this is a classic situation where an understanding of and deliberate adherence to the rules is critical.
It remains to be seen, however, if Isaiah really did violate campaign rules, he shouldn't win. That's oversight on his part.
If this is some technicality, etc., sure, Isaiah did win the popular vote. But, simply he didn't follow the rules.
Hehe I helped make those expenses rise because the dumb ass put an ad on facebook for his website thats what costed him money i clicked it about 300 times. :) Not in Fiji just dont like the little fuck.
This is outrageous and it is a clear disregard for SGA's bylaws by the Election Commission.
It is no coincidence that some people are in Fiji and influenced the outcome of the election in Elliot's favor - Chair of the Election Commission - Austin Garland helped decide to disqualify Isaiah. And now Elliot, also a member of Fiji, is supposed to be President.
Don't forget - when Isaiah appeals to the Honor Board, his case will be heard by Chair Sean Bear - a member of Fiji and also an open supporter / endorser of Elliot for President. The last two presidents were members of Fiji. There is clearly an agenda here. It's time to hold these people accountable for their corruption.
Really? If he won 70 % of the vote, then i'm pretty sure it wasn't from his web site. It wasn't even close. Makes me wonder what the SGA really is all about
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