ASFA Elections Undermined
Controversy Swirls Over Potential Violations of ASFA Electoral Bylaws
A seemingly routine by-election to fill vacant VP and councillor seats in the Arts and Science Federation of Associations has resulted in questions about the validity of the vote.
Former ASFA Chief Electoral Officer and current Concordia Student Union Council Chairperson Nick Cuillerier has filed an official complaint with ASFA’s Judicial Committee, citing what he called “Numerous violations that took place and the general lack of oversight.”
“I don’t find that there is any malicious intent involved here. But what is clear is that there is gross negligence, a questionable understanding of [election bylaws found in ASFA document] Annex A, and a lack of oversight regarding [current CEO Marvin Cidamon].”
One of the most serious allegations put forth by Cuillerier is the hiring of former ASFA VP Internal Nicole Devlin as a polling clerk and ballot counter. Cuillerier said that, as CEO last year, he had recommended a change to the bylaws that would prohibit former executives from holding paid positions in ASFA elections.
“I needed polling clerks,” said Cidamon, who acknowledged that he knew hiring Devlin would violate the bylaws.
“It was kind of short notice. I ended up planning that entire election in about a week. Time was against me and I had other choices, but she seemed like someone who knew her stuff, and knew how to deal with an election.”
Devlin, who had been on the ASFA executive when the reforms were passed, said she did not remember that particular change, and could not find it when looking through the online version of the bylaws before applying to be a clerk and counter.
“Throughout the entire elections I saw many executives and people and no one said anything, so I thought it was okay,” she said.
Cuillerier said he, too, looked at the online bylaws and annexes, and found that the updated version of Annex A, which was voted on by ASFA council in April, was missing.
“I had assumed the most updated version of Annex A had been up on the website,” he said. “When this was not the case, I soon realized that the one on the website is from Dec. 10 and not April 14. I was then sent a recent version of Annex and upon receiving it, I realized there were components missing.
“Annex A is currently missing some major components, and not only is it not readily available to the public, it’s not readily available to the executive, because they have not updated it.”
However, ASFA President Alex Gordon said that is not the case.
“As far as the website update, I think it’s a little self-explanatory that we didn’t have a VP Communication, and as much as we attempted to learn the application of the website, that’s one thing that unfortunately didn’t get updated in a timely manner. We do have an updated version that we’re consulting.”
He added that the hiring of ineligible polling clerks was “an oversight by a few different bodies,” and that Cidamon and ASFA VP Internal Schubert Laforest had jointly and voluntarily filed a request for an opinion with the Judicial Committee about the matter.
Cuillerier also cited violations as varied as a student hired as a ballot counter posting the results of the election on Facebook before they were official, to hiring polling clerks and counters who were ineligible to perform those duties due to recent reforms to the ASFA bylaws.
The Link has also learned of potential problems in the training of polling clerks, which may have resulted in students being able to cast multiple votes after one student admitted to having had the opportunity to vote multiple times after going to several polling stations.
Clerks are supposed to enter the names of students who have voted into a database, and if they attempt to vote again, an ‘ineligible’ message is supposed to pop up.
Cuillerier had asked the JC to consider whether the results of the election should be valid, whether the CEO, deputy electoral officer and ineligible polling clerks should face disciplinary actions, to look at the hiring process of the CEO, and to consider dismissing the CEO over the byelection.
“I do this under great frustration,” said Cuillerier. “I spent many hours last year trying to help improve the system and correct some of the errors that were within the system.”
Cidamon denied that the results of the election are in doubt, saying, “All the results are fine. It’s not really a question whether the results have been tampered with in any way.”
Cuillerier also filed complaints concerning the lack of a formal ratification of Cidamon by Council—Cidamon says he was busy counting ballots, as the night where the ratification was to take place was also an election night—and the lack of an updated election section on the ASFA website.
The byelection winners included Alexis Suzuki as VP Communications and Paul Jerajian as VP External & Sustainability, as well as Yasmeen Zahar as an independent councillor.
In emails sent to The Link, the ASFA Judicial Committee announced separate hearings stemming from the election.
One, to be held on Oct. 19, will discuss questions about election violations brought to the JC jointly by Cidamon and Laforest. The other, on Oct. 24, will be to discuss the allegations put forth by Cuillerier.
