Saso Named Election Winner

By Matthew Rupel

The Associated Student Government elections have come to an official close with the announcement of Jenna Saso and Matt MacDonald as president and vice president.

An email from the election committee head, Lindsay Gray, outlined a total vote tally of 1,624, a turnout of almost 30 percent of the student body. The email also detailed the reasoning for the disqualification of Robert Leupp and Alex Sola-Guinto, who received 590 votes, a close enough margin to require a runoff under normal circumstances.

Even though the elections have closed, a group of students plan to attempt to get a recall, which would require a vote of confidence against Saso that could nullify the results and require another election.

Leupp and Sola-Guinto were disqualified for a total of three violations, and the email also said that his ticket had seven minor infractions. The final violation came on election day, when individuals affiliated with the candidates were observed encouraging voting in Benson.

The student who was observed in Benson, senior Alex Arezzini, who is a member of the same fraternity as Leupp, said that he was just going through Benson to get some food when he saw his friend who hadn't voted yet, and he showed her how to log on to eCampus and get to the election polls.

"I don't know how that can be construed as me campaigning in Benson." said Arezzini.

According to Gray, the incidence was not the sole reason for the disqualification, but an example of the behavior.

"When it came to the third violation... that instance is not solely to blame, it was several related incidents all having to do with illegal campaigning in Benson and the library on election day," she said.

The election code states that candidates are responsible for the actions of individuals who act on their behalf during the campaign, regardless of whether or not they were sanctioned by the candidates. This is so candidates have to take responsibility for their campaigns and not claim innocence by denying involvement, according to Gray.

Chief Justice Gareth Morl, said that Arezzini's actions of entering Benson and encouraging voting, regardless of whether or not he was encouraging voting for Leupp, was enough to get a violation.

"We would say that any knowledgeable or normal person would understand that there was a strong affiliation between Alex and the candidates, and for that reason, we see it as a method of endorsement," he said.

The three violations that ultimately led to the disqualification of Leupp and Sola-Guinto were the aforementioned illegal campaigning, chalking more than the approved space limits and having a display of posters in dormitories.

Contact Matthew Rupel at mrupel@scu.edu (408) 554-4849.