The USA Judicial Board ruled Wednesday morning that a presidential candidate for the Undergraduate Students Association Council could continue campaigning, despite a complete ban received from the USA Elections Board.
The Elections Board initially barred Siddharth Munjal – one of three presidential candidates – from campaigning for the rest of the election cycle after it found that a person who filed complaints against other campaigns and claimed to be unaffiliated had acted as an agent of Munjal’s campaign, according to a Monday notice of finding.
However, the Judicial Board ruled Wednesday to shorten Munjal’s campaign ban to about 36 hours – between the evening of May 11 to May 13 at noon – because it said the Elections Board’s total ban was too harsh.
Though the Judicial Board decreased Munjal’s campaign ban, it ruled in favor of the Elections Board in all three of Munjal’s allegations. The Judicial Board said in its Wednesday ruling that it shortened Munjal’s ban because the Judicial Board has the authority to evaluate the Elections Board’s sanctions, according to the Election Code.
Munjal alleged that the Elections Board violated the election code by not giving him enough time to respond to allegations against him. Munjal further alleged that the board violated the code by not providing sufficient evidence in their conclusion and attributing a third party’s conduct to his campaign.
“The Elections Board violated its own procedure rules,” Munjal said at the hearing. “I received the notice of finding after sanction had already been decided and issued.”
Munjal was the second USAC candidate to be barred from campaigning for the remainder of the election period. The Judicial Board sided with the Elections Board on Monday, banning another USAC candidate – internal vice president candidate Gabrielle Trujillo – from campaigning.
[Related: USA Judicial Board confirms IVP candidate cannot campaign]
The Elections Board also banned internal vice president candidate Agrin Khatami, transfer student representative candidate Khadijah Abdalla and general representative candidate Omar Slayyeh from campaigning for the rest of the election cycle on Tuesday, but the Judicial Board has not yet heard their cases.
The Elections Board alleged in the Monday notice that advocacy language and file names in the submitted evidence demonstrated that the person had operated as an agent of Munjal’s campaign. Evidence packets attached to both complaints were titled “War for Siddharth Munjal,” which fits the Election Code’s definition of campaigning, according to the notice.
The Elections Board also alleged in the notice of finding that the complainant and another signatory submitted an endorsement slip supporting Munjal for president May 7 on behalf of a registered student organization, indicating that the person was an agent for Munjal’s campaign at the time of the complaint submissions.
Munjal alleged at the hearing that the Elections Board misrepresented the person as an agent of his campaign.
“Student organizations can endorse candidates,” Munjal said. “The person who signs that endorsement form is acting in their capacity as an organization representative, not as a personal campaign agent.”
Munjal added at the hearing that he requested the full evidentiary record to appeal the decision but the Elections Board denied access to it.
“A process that issues punishment first and denies evidence second is not a process,” Munjal said. “It’s a conclusion dressed up as one.”
Elections Board Chair Syed Tamim Ahmad said the board did not violate the Election Code because it does not require it to provide confidential complaint materials or internal evidence packets to candidates.
“Most importantly, the petitioner was able to file an extensive written appeal challenging nearly every factual and legal component of the determination,” said Ahmad, a fourth-year physiological science student. “That demonstrates a meaningful ability to respond to the allegations.”
Election Code 11.2.2 states that candidates are responsible for the actions of people and organizations that sponsor, endorse or promote their campaign. Election Code 8.2.8c also prohibits intentionally including false information on Elections Board forms and filing malicious, frivolous or bad faith charges against candidates.
Ahmad said at the hearing that the Elections Board did not need to prove formal campaign employment or written authorization to determine that the person had acted as an agent of Munjal’s campaign, per the election code.
Carl Maier, the Elections Board vice chair, said at the hearing that the board considered both the endorsement activity and the advocacy language in submitted evidence packets.
Munjal said he believed the sanction was unfair because other candidates with more violations had received lesser punishments.
“A complete campaign ban during voting, when thousands of students are actively casting ballots, is the most severe non-disqualification sanction available,” Munjal said.
Munjal received his first sanction – which suspended him from campaigning for 12 hours – for using Instagram’s paid advertisement feature to promote his campaign account without including the mandatory Elections Board written disclaimer, according to a May 3 notice of finding.
Munjal also received a third violation after the Elections Board’s total ban because a Reddit user appearing to be Munjal did not include the required Elections Board disclaimer and logo, according to a Tuesday notice of finding.
“This modification is intended to protect the fairness of the active election period and to ensure that candidates retain a meaningful opportunity to communicate with voters,” the Judicial Board said in a Wednesday Instagram post. “It does not overturn the Elections Board’s findings or its agency of determination, both of which the Judicial Board has upheld.”
