Incumbent Class of 2012 social chair Aparajita Das will not be able to run for re-election after her appeal was rejected at the USG meeting on Sunday night. Das was eliminated from the race by election managers Laura Eckhardt ’14, Stephen Stolzenberg ’13 and John Zumpetta ’11 after she failed to turn in her candidate forms on time due to a miscommunication about a change to election rules.
She filed an appeal to overturn the decision after receiving public support from several of her fellow officers and presented her case before the USG Senate on Sunday.
“The USG never publicized the elections reforms that were approved a week ago, neither on the website, nor in an email,” Das said in her appeal handout. “After having operated under a certain set of rules for three years, I don’t think it was unreasonable for me to have assumed that the elections packet was the same.”
Das also explained that Eckhardt never responded to an email after offering to meet with her to review election rules and protested the undue influence she said Yaroshefsky exerted over the election managers, explaining that Eckhardt constantly consulted Yaroshefsky though “the elections managers should be independent and impartial and not subject to the influence of USG members.”
Following presentations by Das and Eckhardt, who explained that the candidates had the responsibility to familiarize themselves with election rules, the floor was opened for questions from the Senate and then the audience, as several students showed up to the public part of the meeting to support Das.
At one point U-Councilor Sarah Wiley ’13 directed a question to the Senate, asking which of the members who had entered re-election had read the entire elections packet. Only around three or four senate members said they had.
“These members went to the open house so they didn’t have to read the packet but it is the candidate’s responsibility regardless,” Eckhardt said.
Several public attendees were actively involved in the discussion. Referring to Eckhardt’s lack of communication with several candidates to arrange a meeting, Sarah Strobel ’11 asked, “Why offer to do them if you’re not going to follow through for other candidates?”
The Senate then convened for an executive session for voting members to determine the success of the appeal. Public attendees said they had mixed feelings about the closed session.
“I was impressed that the Senate meeting was open for audience but also disappointed by the follow-up, because it seemed like the audience was coming for show rather than a visible impact,” Sanchali Pal ’12 said. “I was struck by the lack of transparency.”
“If you’re opening the meeting up to the audience, you should listen to what they have to say,” Maria Jose Dobles ’12 said. “I was shocked by the lack of responsibility exhibited in this situation ... It is the responsibility of the people in charge to clearly inform the candidates on what the regulations are.”
While the appeal failed to garner the two-thirds majority that it needed to be sustained, Yaroshefsky explained after the executive session that the decision had not been a unanimous one.
“It was a productive conversation we had,” Yaroshefsky said. “Despite having a number of people voicing concerns, we had to make decisions consistent with the Senate rules.”
“I was very impressed by the number of audience we had today,” Ettman said. “It shows engagement with the USG.”
As a result of Das’ expulsion from the race, Tulio Alvarez Burgos ’12 will run unopposed.
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