Robert McIntosh, a university studies senior, was disqualified tonight from the SBP race due to voter intimidation, an action which has delayed the Student Body President election results. As of 9:58 p.m. Friday night, no results have been posted on tamuelection.com.
Election Commissioner Rachel Keathley said the results may take as long as a few days to be recalculated as reconfiguring 16,000+ votes is a complicated process.
McIntosh was reported 14 different times via the TAMU Elections website, each case detailing ways in which he violated election regulations (Article VI, Section III).
Reporters are anonymous, but each of the 14 shared similar stories of McIntosh and/or his campaign staff approaching voters, asking them to pull out their phones and vote on the spot and then watching as the student voted. Some reporters shared images and video of the violation occurring.
“Candidate Robert McIntosh and campaign members repeatedly approached students in Harrington Plaza today, asking them to pull out their phones and vote on the spot,” one student who reported the violation wrote. “Campaign members and candidate proceeded to watch as voters filled in ballots, often pointing to locations on their ballot and coercing voters while logged in. Campaign members were also repeatedly seem following students in an attempt to get them to vote on the spot, and often continued to pursue candidates well outside the limits of Harrington Plaza until they submitted their ballots. Several voters were heard saying ‘no thank you’ while walking past, to which campaign members continued to follow and badger them in an attempt to coerce them in to voting.”
The full violation report can be found here.
McIntosh sent in the following statement regarding his disqualification and indicating that he would be challenging it via the J-Court appeals process.
“I want to first start by thanking the students of Texas A&M for an incredible experience over the past several weeks,” McIntosh wrote. “Our team is appreciative of the Student Government Association and the Election Commission for their hard work during this election season.
“It was encouraging to see a record breaking voter turn of almost 17,000 students. However, at 6:20PM today, our team was informed that we had been disqualified. We are disheartened by and wholeheartedly dispute the Election Commission’s decision to disqualify our team. Although I am disappointed in how this evening has ended, I firmly believe in the Student Government Association and the democratic process it upholds. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss this matter further throughout the appeals process with the Texas A&M Judicial Court.
“More than anything, I have been humbled by and honored to meet so many Aggies over the past couple of weeks. During the course of campaigning, I had the opportunity to talk with and most importantly, simply listen to, so many Aggies and hear their stories. I will forever remember these precious moments. And for that, I say thank you, Aggieland.”
UPDATE: These charges have been dismissed. Read more about the dismissal here.
Robert McIntosh disqualified from SBP race for voter intimidation
February 24, 2017
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