Associated Students Judicial Council denied a second appeal from a group of Open People’s Party representatives contesting A.S. Elections Committee’s allegations that members of the party furnished alcohol to minors during Spring Elections.
Four unelected Democratic Process Party candidates were sworn in at last Wednesday’s Legislative Council meeting to replace four elected Open People’s Party representatives, who were given the option to either resign or be disqualified from the 2011-2012 council. Four current council members, OPP off-campus representatives Danielle Foster, Reena Fram and Drey Liautaud and OPP Representative-at-Large Nathan Walter have been given the ultimatum to either resign from office or serve their terms without honoraria.
Despite reports from other campus publications, the individuals have not been charged with soliciting votes in exchange for alcohol.
According to OPP member and A.S. President Harrison Weber, A.S. Judicial Council can either approve Elections Committee’s recommendations or take the case to a trial. Unless Judicial Council agrees to take the case, Weber said its specifics must remain confidential.
“Technically, according to the process, this is not public until Judicial Council decides to hear the case,” Weber said. “Whether or not I agree with the process, I have to defer to the wisdom of students past who constructed these policies.”
During public forum at yesterday’s legislative council meeting, third-year environmental studies major Marjan Riazi called for the four remaining accused council members to step down and demanded that A.S. Elections Committee minutes be made public. The committee did not respond to the incident harshly enough, Riazi said.
“I think it’s an issue that any of the people that were charged were sworn in because it perpetuates a system that undermines democracy,” Riazi said. “Executives are in charge of the party and should be held more accountable for the party’s actions.”
Riazi said executive officers who ran as OPP candidates should be held accountable for the accusations regardless.
“I know that you know exactly what’s going on in your party and if you’re going to run the school, you better know what’s going on in your party,” Riazi said. “I want those people to be held accountable and if any of those executive officers were involved, they should step down or be disqualified.”
However, Weber said he had no knowledge of the alleged actions until after the complaint was filed and cannot answer for the actions of an entire party.
“To my knowledge, executives cannot physically be everywhere at one time,” Weber said. “At the end of the day, people are adults and they make their own decisions.”
Former DPP Off-Campus Representative Tiffany Mayville said allowing the four accused representatives to remain on the council without receiving honoraria is not an appropriate punishment.
“Honoraria is what keeps [council members] accountable,” Mayville said. “If you don’t get honoraria, it’s hard to stay accountable because there is less of a sense of motivation. Where does the incentive come from?”
Vice-Chair of Committee on Committees Kellie Hartl said Elections Committee told her she would have to serve six hours of community service or be forced to resign. However, Hartl said she was not directly involved in OPP campaigning since she holds an appointed, not elected, position.
“The claims that are being made against me are unfair,” Hartl said. “I’ve never run for office; I’m in an appointed position.”
Elections Committee charged Hartl with involvement in the incident through her supposed status as a party liaison to OPP. According to the Article 14 of the A.S. Legal Code, party liaisons are individuals involved with the party who may or may not be candidates. The code requires that these individuals sign a promissory note agreeing that they will not violate A.S. Legal Code or local, state or federal law — a form Hartl said she never signed.
Disqualified OPP Representative-at-Large Kelly Gandee, who garnered the fourth most votes of any 2011-2012 Legislative Council representative, said the Elections Committee has handled the investigation poorly.
“I would like to have seen a more organized form of questioning,” Gandee said. “I felt attacked during the sentencing meeting and I felt like I was being pressured to resign without factual evidence.”
Off-Campus Representative Dariush Banihashemi said during last night’s Legislative council meeting that it is important for A.S. members to act as role models for other students and silence student publications.
“There are many things that haven’t been brought up and this is a bad road to go down,” Banihashemi said. “A.S. council members, it is your duty to set an example around campus and to not give quotes to the Nexus.”
Hahaha OPP IS saying they didnt give alcohol to people….they are so full of shit……I SAW YOU GUYS DUDE!!!!!
If you did witness anything, please report to elections committee. First-hand testimonials are what further these cases and the effort of this coalition in general.
http://www.as.ucsb.edu/elections/complaints.php
Didn’t I give yo ass an order? LEAVE! Lmao but seriously leave.
Shut the hell up you little lair!
i’m so disillusioned with the way a.s. elections have gone. I’ve heard multiple times over the past three years how OPP has done shady stuff to get votes. I’m glad that people finally came out and spoke the truth. I only wish that the student who saw the incoming OPP president with a bottle of alcohol in a fraternity house would come out and speak. It’s not right that he was providing shots to students and then asking them to vote for OPP right there and then!!
You have no idea to what extent Harrison used alcohol to get ahead in this election. Like seriously, he bought a lot more than straight up votes.
I IMPLORE YOU TO SUBMIT YOUR KNOWLEDGE HERE! http://www.as.ucsb.edu/elections/complaints.php
I’d rather not.
Doesn’t really matter, then. Your claims have no grounds if you don’t have proof. No one’s really gonna believe you. As long as your ok with that. :)
I’m not involved in AS, but I’d like to think that UCSB student’s aren’t dumb enough to vote for someone because of a shot of alcohol. I mean, really? Regardless if OPP did it or not, do you really think that alcohol is what won the election? Maybe it had something to do with the Nexus endorsements? Alcohol isn’t in short supply here at UCSB. I wouldn’t do anything for a shot that I could just get for free at a house on a Saturday night. I just think it’s interesting that everyone seems to be condemning alcohol, when I’m… Read more »
BUT did you have any DP party candidate come to you with a laptop and say vote DP right there and then, in that very moment?? I also attended that party and there were no DP candidates who came up to me with a laptop and alcohol to vote for DP party. I distinctly remember talking to some of their candidates and they were in NO WAY persuading me to vote for their party with some alcohol. Instead, they spoke to me about their experiences, their goals, their passions, and how they were going to go about them. Last year,… Read more »
The issue that everyone is trying push is that the drank part is illegal. So let’s focus on that. EVERY PARTY FURNISHED DRANK! Point blank. I voted for DPP cause they had a sick party and that Alysse girl offered me drank at the DP party. Does that count that I voted for them cause they gave me Drank?
DP Party candidates do shady shit. It’s just not in the news. Don’t even try to tell me they aren’t out there getting their votes. There were exploiting that little dog like crazy. Please. . . And I’m sure that if you take the number of votes in question from this alcohol thing away from OPP, they would still have one. They killed elections this year, and that’s because they were the best candidates.
You person… I agree with everything You said. SMART person you are
Dear Nexus,
Are you the voice of the students or the voice of OPP? Stop trying to defend them and make them look good. The press is supposed to be a check on the government to make sure the government is being transparent. All the Nexus does is try to cover up the mess of the OPP student government officials.
Please point out your claims. If you don’t have any then just stop making stuff up. Especially on a site like this where people can read your statement.
You must have not noticed that in everything the Nexus posted about this topic, OPP members were excessively featured defending themselves and their party. It’s childish of you to accuse me of making stuff up when the only thing I am doing is exercising my student voice. If you don’t agree that the Nexus is obviously in favor or OPP, then that’s your personal opinion and don’t tell me that I’m making stuff up when I state mine.
That’s silly, Student Voice isn’t a party anymore. You can exercise your DPP though.
Clearly I was not talking about an ex-party. I was talking about my voice as a student.
what does student voice have to do with anything. Most people don’t even know what student voice is anymore…
thank you, wtf
and you… Well you’re just silly.
It was a joke so STFU lmao
I agree. The writers make claims to stay neutral so they can hold the students accountable, but clearly all of these articles have been biased. OPP members committed crimes and aren’t being punished rightly. It’s as simple as that. The fact that the Nexus has continued to paint them as innocent when they have already been charged is just ridiculous.
LEAVE ALREADY!!!!!!!!
Can you imagine what the real world would look like, if candidates could loose by millions of votes, then complain about minor shit and suddenly disqualify the other candidate? Theres a reason this doesnt happen in the real world ( really at any level ) and thats because is makes a mockery of our constitution and the will of the voters. If you voted for someone, and find that they were disqualified for some bullshit reason, you have a right to be mad, as your electoral right has been userped and your elected officials chosen by committee.
The elected officials aren’t chosen by a committee. When candidates are disqualified for their ILLEGAL actions that are in no way “minor,” the candidates who received the next most votes are sworn in in their place.
I was at a fundraiser for Barbara Boxer during her senate campaign, where my boss’s daughter ( who is 18 ) went right up to the table and took a glass of champaign. As far as I can tell Boxer was bribing people for votes by offering alcohol to minors. That HARLOT!!! . We need to tell the California elections committee- WE SHOULD NOT REST UNTIL BARBARA BOXER IS DISQUALIFIED AND CARLY FIORINA IS APPOINTED SENATOR! Who cares who voted, they dont matter!! 18 year olds drank alcohol !!! The punishment fits the crime- everyone withing a 200 mile radius… Read more »
you realize that there are TONS of campaign rules for larger scale elections right? This has nothing to do with my view on elections, I just want to point you to our American Government class. Here you will learn about all kinds of campaigning rules that are put in place so that candidates don’t unlawfully sway the vote (This isn’t in the US, but it happened this week http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/05/23/disqualified-ams-claim-they-did-not-knowingly-break-electoral-rules-91466-28743791/) Comparing Boxer’s use of alcohol and minors to sway people’s vote to the use in alcohol in IV to sway vote is very different. you CAN’T seriously say that alcohol doesn’t… Read more »
I have to admit that it sounds silly to be making a big deal about alcohol being given out. However, the fact that people could vote on the spot right after receiving the alcohol does change things. One of AS Elections Committee rules is that parties cannot hand out things within a certain distance from a voting booth. The fact that OPP passed out alcohol while providing laptops on which people could vote shows that they broke AS Elections Committee Rules and the law by handing out alcohol to minors.
So they win by default? hahahaha- not because the student’s wanted them. Must suck to know that’s the only reason your there
The students did and do want them. There were still thousands of votes to both DP and BOSS party members. They do amazing work on this campus so that’s not “the only reason” they’re there.
Umm No. Well yea they may do work but let’s be real. Some people are behind the scenes for a reason. There worker bees and then there leader bees. Then worker bees try to be leader bees (especially without being elected in) the results are disastrous. I mean well… You at you Marge.
Were you at the AS Banquet? Did you see how many DP party candidates took home awards for the amazing work they did? Also, I don’t even really understand what your previous statement was saying with the analogy to worker bees… or what “you at you marge” was supposed to mean. Feel free to clarify or back off since you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about when you make generalizations that DP and BOSS candidates don’t do work in AS.