A candidate for President (PG) has been disqualified from the election following multiple rule breaches.
Ruling - 26th February
I have received a number of complaints surrounding the conduct of a candidate in the President (PG) elections.
Complaints 1 and 2
I received two complaints relating to an incident in the Engineering Library where a candidate breached Rule 4.9 (Candidates, their campaign teams, or any other person attempting to influence a voter must be further than three metres away from an individual when they are casting their ballot.) by voting for themselves on another student’s phone.
I have received witness evidence which corroborates this account and I am satisfied that this incident occurred. The candidate themselves has not denied that they touched a student’s phone, which is itself a clear breach of the rules, and is one of the particular rules emphasised in the candidate briefing. It is specifically emphasised that candidates are not to provide technical support to candidates in voting. I am further satisfied that they cast a vote for themselves.
Complaint 3
I have since received a further report of a separate incident, in Trinity College, where the candidate interacted with the voting platform on a student’s phone, and was prevented by two-factor authentication from casting a vote for themselves. The candidate accepts that they may have interacted with the device in order to assist with signing in or navigating to the correct page. Again, this breaches Rule 4.9 and the advice given to candidates.
Complaint 4
A further report indicates an aggressive campaigning style where he would not leave students alone until he saw them voting for him. I am satisfied that this suggests a pattern of behaviour, further corroborated by the incident earlier this week, for which both a campaign ban and final warning was issued.
Complaint 5
I have received a report relating to the candidate proposing a slate, in breach of Rule 6.1 (Candidates cannot run in the election with other candidates as an official slate. A slate is defined as a group of candidates that run in multi-position elections on a common platform.). The other candidate knew that this was a breach of the rules and did not agree. Therefore, this rule was not breached and so I have not considered this complaint upheld in making this ruling.
Complaint 6
I have received a further complaint relating to a candidate taking a student’s phone, casting the vote, and waiting for that student to press confirm to register the vote before leaving the student alone. While the candidate does not accept the allegation, as above they acknowledge they may have provided technical assistance in signing in or finding the right page. I am satisfied that any interaction with the voting platform on another student’s phone is a serious breach of Rule 4.9, regardless of whether the candidate actually pressed “confirm” to submit a vote.
Ruling
I have upheld 5 serious complaints relating to 4 separate incidents. Given the campaign ban and final warning issued earlier this week, any of incidents 1/2, 3, or 6 in isolation would have resulted in immediate disqualification. I am satisfied that the cumulative impact of these, building upon the incidents leading to a campaign ban and final warning earlier this week, makes immediate disqualification the only proportionate response.
Roman Shainskyi is therefore disqualified and removed from the election for President (PG).
The results for the President (PG) election should not be released until any appeal to the Returning Officer has been resolved or the window for an appeal to the Returning Officer elapsed.