In a 5-2 vote, the SGA Judicial Court ruled to overturn the election commissioner’s decision to disqualify Robert McIntosh, dismissing the charges of voter intimidation.
“The Court rules to overturn the Appellee’s [Rachel Keathley] decision to disqualify Student Body President Candidate Robert McIntosh on grounds of voter fraud, as it is the opinion of these Justices that no such definition can reasonably be applied to the actions of the Appellant given the evidence provided,” the Court’s ruling said.
The court’s ruling said the evidence Keathley used to disqualify McIntosh was not enough to prove McIntosh committed voter fraud.
“The evidence presented to the Court by the Appellee in this case seemed circumstantial at best, and when coupled with witness testimonies from both sides, was not compelling enough to convince the Court that a ruling of disqualification was warranted,” the ruling said.
Vice-Chief Justice and classics senior Laura Durie, associate justice and accounting junior Benjamin Harrison, business honors senior Michael Formella, economics senior Corbin Neumann and business administration sophomore Ryan Woolsey all voted to overturn McIntosh’s disqualification.
Chief justice and business honors senior Shelby James and association justice and computer science senior Dhananjay Khanna both voted in favor of upholding the disqualification.
“The actions taken by the majority in this decision are a subversion of justice,” James and Khanna said in their dissent. “This is a direct attack upon the powers granted to the Election Commission by the Legislature of the Student Government Association and undermines the very essence of accountability that is the backbone of a real democracy. In doing so, the majority has dealt a fatal blow to the ability of the Election Commission and the Judicial Court to hold everyone to standards firmly enshrined in the Code.”
Case 69-02, McIntosh’s second disqualifying-caliber violation, which deals with his failure to account for campaign material in his expense report, will have a hearing, James said. There is not a set time yet, but it will be announced in a timely manner.