The local ACLU chapter is troubled about the "significant irregularities" with Associated Students' last election - and they've made President Rollin Richmond and AS President Sofia Periera aware of their concerns.
"It would appear that HSU student Jason Robo was illegitimately removed from the ballot for a run-off election for the presidency of Associated Students, despite being one of the top two vote-getters in the general campus election," Christina Albright, chair of the Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), wrote in an Aug. 19 letter.
Addressed to Richmond and Pereira, the letter calls upon AS to clarify under what terms a candidate is eligible, or deemed ineligible, for campus office and requests a review of the conduct of the Elections Commission.
The April elections "didn't appear to be consistent with [AS] election code," Greg Allen, vice-chair of the ACLUchapter, said.
Former AS Legislative Vice President Jason Robo was impeached and removed from office in March 2008. Following what Robo says was invalid impeachment, he ran for the position of AS President for the '08-'09 school year. Halfway through the April elections, Robo was deemed "academically ineligible to hold office" by HSU Student Affairs after being put on disciplinary probation. Official letters of complaint were filed by Robo and other candidates, but were dismissed by the Elections Commission, which included council members who authored Robo's initial impeachment articles.
The Redwood chapter of the ACLU recommends that AS outsource election procedures, including vote-counting, to a "third-party group in the local community who do not hold a stake in the outcome of student elections." Many non-profit organizations, including the ACLU of Northern California, solicit third-party election audit services to ensure the professional conduct of internal elections.
"Other student governments work with community-based organizations such as the League of Women Voters, or even their local Registrar of Voters, to ensure the fair conduct of campus elections," the statement read. However, of the Northern California CSU universities, Sacramento State is the lone university that uses independent, third-party software to tally student election votes.
In addition to its recommendations to AS, the Redwood chapter calls for an administrative review of HSU spokesperson Paul Mann's actions and behavior at the May 1 Elections Commission meeting, which was published on-line at Google Videos. Local chapter members were "disturbed" after reviewing the footage on-line.
"[The video] clearly shows a level of 'coaching' of student representatives by HSU administration official Paul Mann," the letter stated.
Mann denies speaking at the May 1 meeting. "I attended the Election Commission's meeting as an observer," he said. Mann said the purpose of his presence was to document the election results for "Humboldt State Now."
The HSU President's Office received the chapter's letter Sept. 19 and it will be mailed to the CSU General Counsel's Office in Long Beach for legal review. It is unknown how long it will be until the university receives a response - the wait could span weeks or months.
"The timetable for review is contingent on a variety of external factors," Mann said. Those external factors include counsel case load, availability of legal staff, the content of the letter and the amount of research needed to determine the validity of the alleged irregularities.
Associated Students has yet to publicly discuss the letter or determine a course of action. Pereira acknowledges some parts of AS code are vague, but said it's up to the council to determine whether the code should be updated. If council decides a code revision is needed, the elections code and impeachment sections would be first on the list, Pereira said.
Pereira would prefer to wait until she hears from the university before taking any action or bringing the matter up for discussion at council meetings, since the ACLU letter was addressed to both Richmond and Pereira.
"We don't want to step on any toes," Pereira said. "[But] we're working to respond appropriately."
While Jason Robo approached the Redwood Chapter about the election, Allen said these problems and concerns go beyond any one individual.
"This has to do with the principles involved," Allen said.
"We're a little bit concerned and hope we can all get on the same page."
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