The Representative Union (RU) led by Chris Schulz won the November CSU byelection, but whether he will be the next CSU president remains to be seen.
Chief Electoral Officer Jessica Lajambe did not make a decision in regards to contestations of the validity of the byelection. On Dec. 22 she filed her report about the byelection and referred the decision on whether Schulz can be president to the Judicial Board.
The Judicial Board, according to CSU bylaws, has 30 days to make a decision. Lajambe encouraged the board to take as little time as possible to render its decision.
“[Lajambe] took five more days to make her decision and then she did not make one. All these delays are making our term shorter and shorter,” said Schulz.
Lajambe said New Organized Way (NOW) withdrew their original contestation from election day, but it has since been replaced by new contestation of the results.
She said she has insufficient power to direct the election process.
“Regulations do not stand very strongly if [authorities] do not give CEOs powers to offer remedies,” she said. “Election bylaws at Concordia try to foresee what is going to happen rather than give the CEO power [to deal with what’s going on]. Here’s a drastic example: If one candidate shot every other candidate and that person got the highest number of votes, I couldn’t disqualify him. This has been such a frustration experience. I’ve wound up being in a lose-lose situation.”
Highest voter turnout in history
According Lajambe this November’s byelection had 3,603 students voting for a slate in the CSU election and it made the byelection the highest voter turnout in CSU history.
The RU won with 1,638 votes. Schulz was pleased with students’ participation in the election. “The voter turnout [was] fantastic. It [showed] that the students were upset with the terrible job the CSU did representing them.”
While happy with the high voter turnout, Zev Tiefenbach the presidential candidate for the Umbrella Party was not surprised with the end results. “The performance was what I expected. Schulz did a very good job in mobilizing his people. He did a lot of work on his campaign to win.”
According to Tiefenbach, students voted well aware of the bribery allegations surrounding the RU. “I have no intention of contesting the results. The students voted in full knowledge of everything that’s happened. People are aware of what Schulz is about and will be watching.”
He has no hard feelings towards Schulz and is happy with his party’s second place position. “I’m delighted that almost 1,400 students voted for the Umbrella Party.” The Umbrella Party had lost by 264 votes.
Luis Diaz, the presidential candidate for NOW, said the byelection is a stepping stone for the future so that more students will get involved in student politics and vote. “When people vote, good things happen.” NOW finished in third place with 591 votes.
Tiefenbach is somewhat relieved that he did not win. “Personally, I can live without the stress and anxiety of being in such a position.” He admitted that his reason for running was because he was not impressed with the way the ACCESS slate had run things.
Tiefenbach added that he did what he had wanted to do. “My intention was to keep progressive politics alive. The job I set out to do was accomplished.”
Schulz said that when he gets into the CSU offices he will be working on the tuition waivers for students who participate in student life and the referendum questions that were passed in the byelection.
Chief Electoral Officer Jessica Lajambe did not make a decision in regards to contestations of the validity of the byelection. On Dec. 22 she filed her report about the byelection and referred the decision on whether Schulz can be president to the Judicial Board.
The Judicial Board, according to CSU bylaws, has 30 days to make a decision. Lajambe encouraged the board to take as little time as possible to render its decision.
“[Lajambe] took five more days to make her decision and then she did not make one. All these delays are making our term shorter and shorter,” said Schulz.
Lajambe said New Organized Way (NOW) withdrew their original contestation from election day, but it has since been replaced by new contestation of the results.
She said she has insufficient power to direct the election process.
“Regulations do not stand very strongly if [authorities] do not give CEOs powers to offer remedies,” she said. “Election bylaws at Concordia try to foresee what is going to happen rather than give the CEO power [to deal with what’s going on]. Here’s a drastic example: If one candidate shot every other candidate and that person got the highest number of votes, I couldn’t disqualify him. This has been such a frustration experience. I’ve wound up being in a lose-lose situation.”
Highest voter turnout in history
According Lajambe this November’s byelection had 3,603 students voting for a slate in the CSU election and it made the byelection the highest voter turnout in CSU history.
The RU won with 1,638 votes. Schulz was pleased with students’ participation in the election. “The voter turnout [was] fantastic. It [showed] that the students were upset with the terrible job the CSU did representing them.”
While happy with the high voter turnout, Zev Tiefenbach the presidential candidate for the Umbrella Party was not surprised with the end results. “The performance was what I expected. Schulz did a very good job in mobilizing his people. He did a lot of work on his campaign to win.”
According to Tiefenbach, students voted well aware of the bribery allegations surrounding the RU. “I have no intention of contesting the results. The students voted in full knowledge of everything that’s happened. People are aware of what Schulz is about and will be watching.”
He has no hard feelings towards Schulz and is happy with his party’s second place position. “I’m delighted that almost 1,400 students voted for the Umbrella Party.” The Umbrella Party had lost by 264 votes.
Luis Diaz, the presidential candidate for NOW, said the byelection is a stepping stone for the future so that more students will get involved in student politics and vote. “When people vote, good things happen.” NOW finished in third place with 591 votes.
Tiefenbach is somewhat relieved that he did not win. “Personally, I can live without the stress and anxiety of being in such a position.” He admitted that his reason for running was because he was not impressed with the way the ACCESS slate had run things.
Tiefenbach added that he did what he had wanted to do. “My intention was to keep progressive politics alive. The job I set out to do was accomplished.”
Schulz said that when he gets into the CSU offices he will be working on the tuition waivers for students who participate in student life and the referendum questions that were passed in the byelection.
