Council representatives claim GPSA fudged election process

The GPSA Council Chair was elected on Saturday, but some council representatives called the results into question only an hour later.
Graduate student Megan McRobert got 12 votes and current GPSA Council Chair Danny Hernandez received nine.
“I’m excited to have been elected,” McRobert said. “A number of people noted with surprise how many people were in the room, and I think that speaks to the GPSA’s increase in visibility and that people really care about what goes on here.”

However, shortly after the election, while the meeting was still in progress, GPSA Elections Chair Sophia Hammett realized that GPSA constitution mandates that the GPSA president should have presided over the election.

Hammett offered to re-do the entire voting process so GPSA President Lissa Knudsen could run the election. GPSA eventually voted that Hammett acted as Knudsen’s designate in the election, which upheld McRobert’s victory.

Hernandez said the election was unfair because Knudsen asked him a biased question before the vote.
“She was supposed to be presiding over the election,” he said. “If you’re presiding over the election you’re supposed to be neutral.”
During the public comment session of the meeting, Knudsen asked Hernandez whether he violated the GPSA’s Open Meetings Act in a meeting with law school representatives April 9.

Knudsen said that if there were six different departments represented at the meeting, Hernandez needed to give notice to the public.
“I may have broken our Open Meetings Act,” Hernandez said. “It depends on how you interpret it.”

Hernandez told the Daily Lobo on April 9 that five different departments were represented at the April 9 meeting.
Hernandez also said he sent three e-mails inviting council representatives on their Listserv a week before the meeting.
“I think that the GPSA president weighing so heavily on the election was unfair,” he said. “She hired this young woman and supported her candidacy.”

Knudsen hired McRobert this semester to help fix GPSA’s Web site, she said. McRobert began as a volunteer in the GPSA office in January.
“I think that she’ll be able to bring something, especially in terms of the Web site, that GPSA hasn’t had in the last five years,” Knudsen said.

Knudsen said Saturday’s election ran more smoothly than any other she has seen.
Hernandez said there is still a possibility that he will contest the election within the GPSA Court of Review. The Court of Review has previously dealt with “election challenges,” according to GPSA’s Web site.

“An attorney and I will be getting together, but it’s unlikely I’ll go against the election,” he said.
McRobert said she thought the election was fair.

“I think the important part is that if anyone still has concerns about the elections, there is a process they can go through,” she said.
Hernandez said he will most likely stay involved with GPSA next year, either as a representative or as grants chair.

“Beside the previous two grants chairs, there is no one else who knows more about how the grants process works,” he said.
The GPSA meeting on Saturday was the first meeting McRobert attended, she said. Knudsen said that McRobert will bring new and unique skills to GPSA next year.

“She is a fresh face and not at all entrenched in the politics,” Knudsen said.
McRobert will take office after spring semester ends.