Christina VarvisSamer Sleiman, the beleaguered Vice-President (Operations and Finance) candidate booted from the Students’ Union election after allegedly tampering with votes, will appeal his disqualification to the Discipline, Interpretation and Enforcement (DIE) Board on Monday at noon.
In his appeal application, Sleiman alleged that Chief Returning Officer (CRO) Jessica Nguyen erred in handling the complaint under the bylaw that governs SU elections.
Nguyen disqualified Sleiman from the race Friday after a student complained about Sleiman casting a vote on her behalf.
When she went online to vote, the student discovered her CCID had been blocked after Sleiman allegedly showed her how to properly cast a vote from a mobile phone.
Further investigation by the CRO revealed 32 votes were cast using an IP address belonging to a Rogers phone. Later on March 5, 42 votes were found to be identical to the vote cast on behalf of the student complainant.
The elections bylaw stipulates that a candidate will be disqualified when found tampering with ballots, voting procedures or counting procedures.
Sleiman said the complaint was “uncorroborated” and had not been proven to be “fair, accurate and truthful.”
The DIE Board is considered the court of the Students’ Union and interprets and enforces its bylaws.
Results for the VP (OpsFi) race are pending until the board issues a ruling for the appeal.
The board struck down a CRO ruling Friday against Vice-President (Academic)-elect Shakiba Azimi, reversing $220 in fines that would have exceeded her allotted $550 campaign budget and disqualified her from the race.
More details to come Monday.
— With files from Andrea Ross
Besides a cheater, he is also a sore loser.