The nine candidates who ran on the Connection slate during the Nov. 14 student government election have filed an appeal of the fines and sanctions for campaign violations levied by the ASUNM Elections Commission.
The Connection candidates - eight of whom won Senate seats in the election - were fined $84.50 for various infractions. The winners also were stripped of the $250 stipend paid to senators and will have to develop a plan to increase voter turnout in the Spring Associated Students of UNM election, according to a ruling issued by the Commission Nov. 19.
The violations included passing out fliers in the dorms - known as "dorm storming" - and removing copies of the Daily Lobo awaiting delivery, stuffing them with Connection fliers and distributing them to newspaper boxes. The commission found that the slate violated campus posting rules and had exceeded the campaign expenditure limits by failing to include the market value of purchasing advertising in the Daily Lobo on an expense report in the wake of the election.
The slate members appealed the decision to the ASUNM Student Court Nov. 21. The appeal challenges two grounds of the ruling. The Elections Commission was named as the defendant.
The first challenges the Elections Commission's assertion that the Daily Lobo stuffing incident was in violation of the UNM Student Code of Conduct's Mall Use/Time, Place and Manner of Public Expression clause.
A portion of the clause cited in the appeal reads:
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"Notices and fliers may be distributed at any outdoor area on campus consistent with the orderly conduct of University affairs, the maintenance of University Property, and the free flow of traffic and persons."
The Commission had found the slate in violation of Article XI, Section 1 of the ASUNM Lawbook Elections Code, which states that campaign posting must be in accordance with the Code of Conduct. According the appeal, the Connection members do not feel that they were in violation of any code stipulations.
The second grounds for appeal concerns the expenditure issue. The Commission, in accordance with the Election Code, added a market value of $87.50 for the fliers stuffed in the Daily Lobo to the Connection's expense form.
Article XI, Section 3, Subsection B outlines campaign violations. One part reads:
"For excesses greater than 25 percent, the Elections Commission may impose disciplinary actions as they are provided by the Elections Code . if the over expenditures are of a deliberate and intentional nature."
The slate appealed on the grounds that the Commission could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the slate members deliberately and intentionally exceeded the limit.
Newly elected Sen. Paul Campbell, who ran on the Connection slate, said he had no comment on the appeal. Phone calls to other slate candidates and Elections Commission members were not returned Monday.
The Connection slate nearly swept the election - the winners were, in order of votes received, Rosalyn Nguyen, Timothy Reed, Sen. Nicole Griego, Nina Pineda, Nicol†s Cabrera, Chris Bitakis, Campbell, Sen. Lisa Marie G¢mez, Brian Lucero and Sen. Evan Kist. G¢mez and Lucero ran on the B.U.S.Y. slate, while the rest were Connection candidates.
The Student Court will hear the case Friday at 3 p.m. in the Willard Reading Room of Zimmerman Library.
