It has been five days since polls closed in the Student Assembly elections, and no results on the Presidential race have been announced. Latest reports indicate that the Elections committee will announce the winners by Tuesday morning.
This delay comes amidst reports that candidates have been challenged for violating campaign rules. The number of challenges on the table and their severity are currently undisclosed. Such information is confidential, and the Committee and the candidates have kept their lips sealed since word spread Thursday afternoon.
According to Article III, Section D of the campaign rules, any member of the Cornell community may submit a challenge against a candidate for breaking a campaign rule. These rules can range from postering and chalking violations to campaign financing violations. All candidates were required to attend a two-hour information session before the start of campaign season, at which Director of Elections Jon Weinberg shared these rules.
That being said, it has been four days since word of the challenges was shared with the student body. Based upon the strict deadlines publicly outlined in the campaign rules, this suggests that the challenge(s) have advanced to the appeal and reconsideration phases. Again, all details are confidential at this time.
All signs indicate that the Elections Committee will be reconvening tonight to discuss the merit of the appeal(s). This group of seniors will objectively sort through the appeal(s) and, for all intents and purposes, determine the next Student Assembly President tonight.
