ASPSU delays announcement of election results

Although the ASPSU elections results were supposed to be announced yesterday, the Elections Board was forced to push the announcement until tomorrow, due to last-minute infractions that were filed against presidential candidate Adam Rahmlow and his running mate Pearce Whitehead.

The E-board held a three-hour meeting yesterday in the Student Activities and Leadership Programs mezzanine to discuss the 21 allegations made against Rahmlow and Whitehead.

“On Friday, it was brought to my attention that there have been several alleged infractions by several different candidates,” E-board Vice Chair Aubrey Hoffman said at yesterday’s meeting.

According to Hoffman, three opponents that she spoke with about the infractions were presidential candidate Corrine Gilbertson and her running mate Steve Taylor, and presidential candidate Ethan Allen Smith.

“It’s really important to me that we have a good process and that we discuss any possible infractions that have been committed,” Hoffman said.

One of the major infractions looked into at the meeting was the hanging of posters by Rahmlow and Whitehead on the university’s painted walls, which is prohibited by the E-board’s by-laws. Rahmlow was also cited for wearing partisan materials, such as buttons and T-shirts, during Student Senate meetings and in the ASPSU office.

According to Hoffman, she had to remind Rahmlow during two Senate meetings to take off his campaign button.

“After a whole day of campaigning…a button is pretty easy to overlook,” Rahmlow said. “It wasn’t intentional.”

However, Senator W. Leaf Zuk said that he has seen several other candidates wearing partisan material before the meetings, but not during them.

Gilbertson notified the E-board that Rahmlow and Whitehead hung their campaign posters in Cramer Hall. However, the by-laws prohibit candidates from hanging their materials on any painted walls around campus.

While the E-board discussed this issue, Senator Nick Rowe interjected that any candidate with ill intent could hang an opponent’s poster up and take a photo of it.

Hoffman stressed that the issue wasn’t just one infraction, but rather the volume of infractions brought before the E-board against Rahmlow and Whitehead.

Rahmlow was also accused of writing “Reform” (the name of his slate) on two pillars in Stephen E. Epler Hall on Friday, as well as “Rahmlow/Whitehead” on the dormitory grounds. Hoffman said that she told Rahmlow to remove the chalk, but it was not done.

According to Rahmlow, he had told PSU’s Facilities and Planning department that he would bring a pressure washer to campus to remove the drawings, but that a representative within the department told him that it would violate campus policy.

“It was our understanding that we could chalk outside the dorms, anywhere on campus,” Rahmlow said, adding that the chalk was removed by Sunday.

During the meeting, several candidates said that their campaign posters had been reportedly tampered with by Rahmlow’s campaign. However, E-board member Jake Fenske quickly noted that it was unfair to assume that Rahmlow was responsible.

“We have insufficient evidence,” Fenske said. “We’re just working off of assumptions.”

Presidential candidate Jenny Myrick added that the evidence does “not point to any one person.”

In the last half of the meeting, Casey Dreher, the Oregon Student Association campus organizer, also mentioned that several other candidates have violated campaign rules out of confusion, and that it was not fair to punish Rahmlow and Whitehead for what he deemed was an accident.

“I think it was a matter of confusion more than anything,” Fenske added.

After discussing several other potential infractions, the E-board decided to drop all of the charges except for the wearing of partisan material in the Senate meetings and in the ASPSU office, and the chalking of dormitory grounds. Both of these violations are considered minor infractions.

In addition, the E-board will make a decision on whether to punish Rahmlow and Whitehead for hanging posters on painted walls around campus at its meeting tomorrow.

According to the E-board by-laws, campaign violations are separated into two categories: major and minor infractions. A candidate that is charged with a minor infraction will incur one point, and candidates that accrue ten points will be penalized. Such penalties include vote stripping and disqualification.

As of yesterday’s meeting, Rahmlow and Whitehead have accrued a total of four points. They were investigated in early April for hanging their campaign materials on campus before the designated campaign period, as well as for not having their materials approved by the E-board.

During the meeting, several presidential candidates complained about other alleged infractions committed by their opponents. For instance, Myrick’s running mate, Nathaniel Buckner, was accused of participating in partisan class raps. However, these potential violations were not discussed at length, and it is unclear how the E-board will proceed. 

The E-board will announce the election  results at noon in Parkway North tomorrow.