USAC Election Board to reinvestigate voter coercion allegations

This post was updated May 11 at 10:31 a.m.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council Judicial Board ruled Thursday that the USAC Election Board must reinvestigate complaint cases related to voter coercion and issue a new sanction on a case alleging attempted voter coercion.

The judicial board unanimously ruled in favor of a petition claiming the election board failed to adequately investigate complaint cases of voter coercion and failed to issue a reasonable sanction against Bruins United candidates Bella Martin and Victoria Solkovits.

Sanction Case 59, which the election board issued the morning of May 4, barred the Bruins United slate from campaigning until 3 p.m. that day because it found Martin and Solkovits infringed upon a student’s right to vote in privacy at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house May 3. The board, however, did not find that Martin or Solkovits coerced students to vote.

The unanimous decision was released Thursday night after a hearing Wednesday, during which the election board admitted it prematurely ruled on Sanction Case 59 and did not issue a reasonable sanction for Martin and Solkovits attempting to coerce a student to vote.

The judicial board has ordered the election board to issue a reasonable sanction for Martin and Solkovits’ attempted voter coercion. The election board said at the hearing there are two possible sanctions it can issue for Sanction Case 59 – either prohibit campaigning time or disqualify the candidates involved.

The judicial board also ordered the election board to investigate new allegations and reinvestigate cases related to voter privacy invasion, voter coercion and attempts with all evidence provided at Wednesday’s hearing and to accept any new evidence submitted by 11:59 p.m. Friday.

The judicial board will release its full opinion within two weeks, in accordance with its official rules.