The first week of campaigning for the SGA General Election is nearing completion. Voting for the SGA General Election begins on Monday, Feb. 27 and extends through Thursday, March 1. So far there is no sign of any outright cheating like there was last year.
With the exception of two complaints that were filed with the SGA Election Commission on Feb. 15., the campaigning actually appears to be going much smoother this year
Presidential candidate Michael McHugh’s McHugh-Aijaz party was the target of one of the complaints. According to the complaint, the McHugh-Aijez party campaign website was paid for before the official campaigning period began on Feb. 17. The party’s violation was “spending money before disclosing it to the commission.”
Presidential candidate Cedric Bandoh’s REDvolution party was the target of the other complaint. According to the complaint, the REDvolution party website and Twitter page were publically visible before the Feb. 17 campaigning period commenced.
The Election Commission responded to the violations by suspending campaigning for the McHugh-Aijaz party and the REDvolution party for 24 hours on Monday, Feb. 20.
Although both parties were clearly in violation of SGA’s Election Code, their infractions were minor. The SGA Election Commission should be applauded for taking the complaints seriously.
SGA has a reputation to rebuild, so following their bylaws is a step in the right direction. Once they can prove to the student body they can follow their bylaws, they should focus on rebuilding their image on campus.
They should start this image-rebuilding process by cutting out the politics and infighting and focusing on their constituents.
Members of SGA need to make the concerns of UH students their first priority and save the politics for their post-graduation careers.
There have actually been 4 complaints (one against McHugh, two against Bandoh, and one against a senate candidate) and an appeal to the SGA Court of Appeals already. Given that the candidates have only been officially campaigning since Friday, I don't think it's prudent to start drawing parallels with last year's election, especially when the linked example from last year occurred on the last day of voting.
I'm pretty certain this year's election is the beginning of the end of an influencial SGA. UH's most influencial and powerful students have always focused on bodies and organizations outside of student government. Thats just the way it is. We'll hear talk of Bandoh's inexperience and link to a failed Harding administration, talk of McHugh being out of his mind, Syptak being 'mentally ill' and pretty much everyone else not mattering at all. Its very sad that with the kind of great leaders we do have on campus, that these 3 guys are the 'front runners.'
Keep the faith! No student knows more about this campus than Cedric, I've had the honor of working with Cedric this year and would urge you to check out his experience at http://www.uhredvolution.com/cedric-bandoh