Ruling - 25th February - External Endorsements
A complaint was received regarding Leadership Election candidates having been endorsed by Cambridge for Palestine, which is not a registered society, club or sports club with the university or the SU, in breach of Rule 7.4 (Students must not seek external endorsements or promote endorsements from anyone not a student member of the University of Cambridge or a registered society, club, or sports club.).
All the candidates endorsed have confirmed that they neither sought nor agreed to the endorsement nor had any advance notice of the endorsement prior to the social media post being published. In the absence of any evidence to contradict this, Rule 7.4 has not been breached and I must dismiss the complaint.
Additionally, while we cannot compel an external organisation to take or not take any action, and cannot sanction or rule against an external organisation, the Returning Officer took steps to contact Cambridge for Palestine requesting the removal of the post in order to uphold the fairness of the election.