MSA election board questioned over bias

Written by Maize Rage for MSA campaign director Carl Pogoncheff, the e-mail voiced concerns about the makeup of the election board, the rules and elections chair and the election director.

Pogoncheff specifically pointed to the friendships between members of the election board, the rules and elections chair, the election director and MSA presidential candidate Jesse Levine, who is the head of the Students 4 Michigan ticket.

Members of the election board include Elaine Gaston, a member of Students 4 Michigan, and Sashai Alvarez, a former member of Students First, a party that retired its name last semester and whose former members largely formed Students 4 Michigan.

Pogoncheff said he fears that these connections could be exploited by Students 4 Michigan if there is a dispute in the election, because the board has jurisdiction over all election complaints.

But MSA Rules and Elections Chair Russell Garber said the assembly would have a tough time appointing a board that did not have a connection to Levine through one of these two parties. Because Students 4 Michigan is the dominant student party on MSA, to create a board with no connections to Levine would be impossible, Garber said.

“Four-fifths of the assembly are either members of Students 4 Michigan or former members of Students First,” Garber said. “Only two-fifths of the election board are composed of members from these parties.”

However, Pogoncheff said the fact that four-fifths of MSA has ties to Levine through one of these two parties is one of his primary concerns.

“We want to be a voice for the silent majority on campus,” Pogoncheff said, adding that he feels Students 4 Michigan is a “self-serving” party.

The election board hears disputes that members of MSA may have during the election process.

In the past, Students 4 Michigan and its predecessor Students First have violated election rules related to housing. Pogoncheff said he believes the election board and election director acted inappropriately in that case.

MSA election director Brian Doughty disputed Maize Rage’s allegations.

“I don’t think they have brought forth very concrete allegations. There are many checks in place to ensure the impartiality of the election director and the election board,” Doughty said.

One of the election board members that Pogoncheff said is most biased is current MSA President Jason Mironov.

Mironov appointed Levine as MSA general counsel and has campaigned with Levine numerous times, Pogoncheff said.

“It would be like Bill Clinton sitting on an election board for Al Gore,” Pogoncheff said.

Levine defended Mironov’s appointment to the board.

“I think Jason has been known to operate with integrity,” Levine said.

Pogoncheff said the election board, which is composed of members of MSA, acted with bias during the last election when issuing a punishment for Tim Wiggins, a Students 4 Michigan candidate who was kicked out of campaigning in the dorms by University Housing last semester.

Doughty was election director when this issue came up last semester, and as such was responsible for overseeing the election board.

The election board’s punishment for Wiggins was that he would deliver a speech to the assembly at a meeting for this semester’s candidates, talking to them about the importance of following the rules of RHA.

“Fellow members of his party literally laughed at this punishment,” Pogoncheff said.

This year’s election board members were elected, first by notifying Garber ahead of time of their interest in a candidacy. From the list of eight students who announced their candidacies, Garber and the executive board of MSA presented nominations to the general assembly.

The MSA general assembly approved both the election board and the election director.

Pogoncheff’s e-mail also pointed out that Garber and Levine are members of the same fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi.

Garber said he counts Levine as a friend, but that it would be absurd to think that he would let friendship cloud his judgment while nominating members to the elections board.

“Part of making things work in MSA is about building friendships within MSA. There are a number of people I would count as friends within MSA,” Garber said.

Students 4 Michigan claimed 12 seats in the MSA elections held last December. Ten independent candidates and three candidates from the Defend Affirmative Action Party were also elected last semester.

Maize Rage has six candidates running in the upcoming elections, including one for president and one for vice president.