Alden Fletcher (SFS ’17), left, and Grady Willard (SFS ’18) are new to the commission; third commissioner Pavan Rajgopal (SFS ’14) has graduated.
As the five tickets campaign for the Georgetown University Student Association executive position, hundreds of fliers and social media blasts will go up, seemingly countless meet-and-greets will be held and thousands of doors will be knocked on.
Three election commissioners — Pavan Rajgopal (SFS ’14), Alden Fletcher (SFS ’17) and Grady Willard (SFS ’18) — are responsible for making sure these campaign activities all adhere to standards.
According to his LinkedIn account, Rajgopal graduated from Georgetown in December 2014. He remains a non-voting election commissioner, and provides advice and support to the Fletcher and Willard. GUSA President and Vice President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) and Omika Jikaria (SFS ’15) allowed Rajgopal to remain on the commission since, firstly, it would be difficult and unreasonable to find a commissioner with enough knowledge in such a short time period after Rajgopal’s graduation, and secondly, because Rajgopal is the only member of the team with previous experience in a GUSA executive election.
The GUSA Election Commission enforces all GUSA bylaws during elections and audits the campaigns upon suspicion of broken rules.
“[The Election Commission members] are supposed to audit the candidates’ campaigns and make sure they’re within their spending limits, not fliering in places they’re not supposed to be. And if they find a candidate has violated those regulations, they are then supposed to issue sanctions,” GUSA Constitutional Council Chief Justice Josh Shinbrot (COL ’16) said.
The GUSA Constitutional Council oversees and regulates the Election Commission to ensure fair elections and is composed of three justices, who are charged with interpreting the bylaws and regulations of GUSA. These justices are appointed by the GUSA president and are tenured for the length of their undergraduate years. The Constitutional Council is the final board of appeals in all GUSA matters and its decisions are binding.
The Election Commission, on the other hand, strictly exists for the purpose of overseeing elections, and its members are also appointed by the GUSA president and tenured for the duration of their undergraduate career.
The commission moderates two information sessions before each GUSA executive race in order to go over election rules and requirements and closely oversees and communicates with candidates throughout the campaign period. In addition, the commission moderates two debates, which this year will occur on Feb. 11 and Feb. 16. They set time limits for the entirety of the debate including opening and closing statements and manage campus media and student questions throughout the events.
The Election Commission also plays a crucial role in the voting process.
“We count the votes and make sure that whole process goes smoothly,” Willard said.
Sanctions imposed by the Election Commission include anything from listing a candidate on the ballot below the write-in section to striking a candidate from the election altogether. Potential infractions include spending over the $300 limit on campaigning, campaigning before the official start of the season and setting up a campaign-sponsored electronic voting booth or locations on campus.
“It’s been at least four years since the election commission has actually sanctioned a candidate,” Shinbrot said. “I think 2009 was the last time someone was struck from the ballot, so it’s been a while.”
In February 2009, two GUSA executive tickets were disqualified by the Election Commission for poster violations. However, the Constitutional Council invalidated the ruling, the Election Commission members resigned and a new election with all eight original tickets and new election commissioners was held.
This year’s group of election commissioners includes two first-time commissioners, Willard and Fletcher. They replaced two election commissioners who graduated in 2014. One of last year’s commissioners Ethan Chess (COL ’14) brought the election commission into focus in January 2014 after filing a petition requesting the invalidation of a GUSA senate speaker election.
His knowledge of GUSA bylaws led him to send the petition to the Constitutional Council, since such an action is not under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.
The new commissioners were appointed in the fall by GUSA President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) after they applied for the position on Hoyalink. Willard said he applied because of his previous interest in student government.
“I had experience with elections in high school and thought it would be a unique experience to see what gets Georgetown students passionate and excited,” Willard said.
While the young age of the new commissioners might be viewed as a disadvantage, Fletcher said Rajgopal’s two-time experience provides a rubric for fulfilling duties. Rajgopal, who already graduated Georgetown in December 2014, is still involved in the commission after graduation, and serves as a non-voting member. Rajgopal said that the commission operates on consent with GUSA by-laws, so a third voter, or tie-breaker, is unnecessary.
“I don’t think it’s terribly much of a disadvantage because we do have Pavan, who’s been here for a while and knows a lot of stuff,” Fletcher said. “So we’ve had the chance to work with him during the senate election, which went very smoothly.”
Willard said he also did not think his age would pose a problem.
“I don’t really think it will influence proceedings that much,” Willard said. “There’s a list of the rules we follow, and we have a senior on the commission, a sophomore and I’m a first-year, and I think we have a good, varied experience.”
Rajgopal said that he would work to serve as a mentor to the two new commission members.
“I think the system is a lot more valuable in that the new election commissioners, Grady and Alden, are going to get experience during this election, and I’ll be able to walk them through that,” Rajgopal said. “But there’s not going to be another situation in which there’s two vacancies and two new people need to join. As much as possible, I’m trying to let them handle the process and do the work to make sure they understand all the rules and procedures. In the spring we’ll probably nominate a new freshman to take my place and they’ll be able to pass all the knowledge down to him or her.”
All of the commissioners shared the same hope that the current election will run smoothly. Fletcher said that having a competitive and idea-driven race is crucial.
“As always, I think it’s important to have a competitive race, in which it’s not just people being discussed but ideas as well, and so we welcome the kind of competitive atmosphere that comes with it,” Fletcher said.
He also said that the tone of the race is just as important.
“We don’t want it to have a destructive or negative tone in a way that just won’t be beneficial to the long term health of Georgetown’s student body and a way that people are not seeing the value in the rules or deliberately flaunting them,” Fletcher said. “And luckily, so far, I haven’t seen anything of that nature. We have some very good campaigns being run right now and they’re all doing their best, as far as I can tell.”
Correction: A previous article stated that The Hoya was unsure as to how Rajgopal continues to serve on the Election Commission due to his graduation in December 2014. In fact, Rajgopal did graduate in December 2014, but now serves as a non-voting, advising member of the Election Commission by order of GUSA President and Vice President Tezel and Jikaria.
Trevor Tezel • Feb 11, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Happy to shine some more light on this issue. Pavan is not an enrolled student, but he is the only person on the Election Commission who has experience running an executive election. We wanted to be able to rely on his experience, while recognizing that the Student Organization Standards restrict his participation. Omika and I came to the decision that he would remain on as an Election Commissioner. However, if a dispute arises, his vote will not count. A 1:1 tie among the two remaining election commissioners will throw the issue to the Constitutional Council.
Happy to answer any more questions on this. I can be reached by email ([email protected]) or phone 321-806-9164.
Pavan Rajgopal • Feb 11, 2015 at 1:26 am
Hey Folks,
The Hoya didn’t give me the chance to comment on the questions raised about my status in the article before it went to press because an imminent print deadline (as a former Hoya staff writer, I completely understand that pressure), so I feel compelled to clarify some details – not that I’m narcissistic enough to think that most students are genuinely interested in the dealings of the people behind the figurative ballot box!
I did indeed graduate in December 2014 for personal and financial reasons, although I will only walk in May with the Class of 2015 and continue to live a few blocks from campus and participate in other activities. Typically, we would nominate a replacement for a graduating member in the Spring to replace a graduating senior and planned to do so after these elections. However, I only decided to graduate over Winter Break. Given the short turnaround between my graduation and the election, we did not feel it would be prudent to add a completely new voting member two weeks before the Exec Campaign.
The GUSA Constitution does stipulate that Election Commissioners serve as members only as long as they are members of the student body, so yes, I am not a voting member of the commission and would not be allowed to vote in a dispute with Alden and Grady. That said, the election rules in the GUSA By-Laws don’t leave much room for interpretation and we have operated on the basis of consent for as long as I’ve been on the commission. While we do have a younger commission due to two graduations last year, both Alden and Grady played a large role in administering the Fall Senate Elections and are very familiar with the Election Rules and vote tabulation process. Because I am still living in Georgetown and did not line up a replacement, I continue to provide them with historical knowledge about executive elections and advise them on rules and procedures. I also help to answer the dozens of emails we get from candidates on a regular basis and hope to help moderate the upcoming Presidential Debate. It would have been unfair, in my opinion, to dump all responsibility on these two because of a snap decision to graduate early.
If any campaigns are uncomfortable with my role in assisting Grady and Alden, I would be happy to relinquish my duties altogether. But I don’t anticipate a response like that…I suppose without a new round of Stewardghazi, this is the best we can do to find insider GUSA drama to entertain 1/20th of the student body to actively follow without actually discussing platforms that affect the other 19/20ths. I only hope my decision did not distract us from the campaign for an institution that, for all its apparent flaws, genuinely impacts our campus experience.
Happy Campaigning and Hoya Saxa!
Pavan