An already tumultuous Monroe Park Student
Government Association election cycle took another
turn Wednesday when an attempt to cancel the
special election for eight Senate seats was thrown
out by the Judicial Branch.
The ruling will enable the originally planned
April 22 run-off vote to take place. The Joint Committee
arranged the run-off election after numerous
complaints were received that some write-in votes for
Senate seats went uncounted in the original election,
which took place in the last week of March.
On April 5, the SGA justices also rejected a grievance
filed by executive-director candidate Joshua
Ronk against student body president-elect Jibran
Muhammad’s campaign. Ronk’s grievance accused
Muhammad’s supporters of intimidating voters, but
the justices ruled that neither Muhammad, nor his
ticket, were seen intimidating voters.
The latest ruling, posted Sunday night on the
SGA’s Web site, states Chair of Elections Angela
Bitter filed a grievance against the actions of the
Joint Committee.
“(The) Joint Committee led by Student Body
President Jessica Lee, violated the Constitution by
voting to have a run-off election, which overturned
the power given to the Chair of the Joint Elections
Committee according to the Constitution and
Bylaws,” Bitter’s complaint states. “In addition, the
Joint Committee has no authorization to act as a
legislative body according to the Constitution and
Bylaws.”
The Judicial Branch ruled unanimously against
Bitter. The branch ruled it would be violating the
SGA bylaws – in the same way Bitter alleges the
joint committee had violated them – by ruling in
her favor.
“If we were to grant Miss Bitter’s request, the
Judicial Board itself would be stepping out of its
own capacity and becoming a legislative body in
its own right by adding to, rather than interpreting,
the Constitution,” the ruling states.
“To me, the job of the Judicial Branch is to
interpret,” Bitter said after the ruling’s release. “And
if the interpretation is in my favor, I don’t see how
that makes them a legislative body.”
The group also noted Bitter had not raised
an objection to the elections when they were
proposed. Bitter said she does not agree with the
board’s assessment.
“I didn’t have time to absorb what was going
on,” she said. “It wasn’t just that I sat on my
thumbs and let it go. I just wanted to have the
research to back up (the complaint).”
SGA President Jessica Lee said the only issue
Bitter raised was that she did not want to hold a
run-off vote during the week of April 16.
“(Bitter) really did say, ‘It’s my birthday this
week. I can’t deal with candidates on my birthday,’ ”
Lee said. “That’s the only thing we heard from
her.”
But Bitter said that remark was in reference to
the suggestion that the run-off elections be held
so soon after the first election.
“What I was afraid of is that they wanted to
have the election too fast, and I just said I wanted
a break,” she said. “I didn’t want the same mistakes
to happen twice.”
The special election is still planned to take
place from April 22 through April 24.
Lee said she is frustrated about the lack of
information available. Some candidates even are
unsure of the elections’ status, she said.
“I’ve talked to people who genuinely weren’t
sure if the election was this week, and that’s
ridiculous,” Lee said.
The SGA has not advertised the election
because the run-off candidates are responsible for
publicizing it, Bitter said. As of press time, no list
of candidates had been posted on the SGA Web
site, nor had the SGA posted any information
about the election.
“It’s ridiculous,” Lee said. “It’s like trying to
get information out of a wall.”
More information about the rulings against Bitter
and Ronk can be found at www.vcusga.com.