Recently disqualified presidential candidate Joseph Grossman said Friday he is willing to fight his dismissal to the fullest extent of the law.
Grossman said he feels ASASUD has specifically targeted his campaign for violations to the election code throughout the election process. He also said he was denied access to the results of the election, which he insisted are public documents.
“We are not being treated fairly in any way, shape or form and we are sick of this and we are going to take this very seriously … I will be getting the deans involved and I will be taking this as far as it … needs to go,” Grossman said. “I do plan on, if I need to, taking this to court because they are… unlawful at this point. They are breaking the law.”
Grossman ticket disqualified; special election to have Cano and Inzunza listed on ballot
Presidential candidate Joseph Grossman has been disqualified from the ASASUD presidential election due to too many campaign violations, according to official documents on asasud.com.
A class-three violation for falsification was levied against Grossman’s campaign, resulting in immediate disqualification. Grossman also had six other violation points to election code section 5.13, which refers to submission and approval of campaign material to the Elections Committee.
Another presidential candidate, Andres Cano, has received eight violation points, one fewer than can be accumulated by a candidate before disqualification.
Six of his violation points are for section 5.13 as well, and he also received two violation points because of actions by his campaign manager Daiyaan Colbert, which include wearing campaign materials at an ASASUD function.
Cano had two other violations for distributing campaign materials before the election officially began and campaigning at an ASASUD function or in ASASUD offices, but both of those violations were stricken.
According to the ASASUD Elections Committee, decisions have been made to hold a special election tentatively scheduled for April 14 and 15.
“This election will include ballots for both executive and senate tickets,” the Elections Committee said to candidates in an email. “All candidates will be listed on the ballot regardless of write-in status, with the exception of those candidates deemed disqualified.”
Cano said his campaign will appeal some of the violations submitted against them.
“We disagree with the committee’s decision,” Cano said in an email. “Our campaign has been unequivocally consistent with following the election code. We will appeal.”
Assuming nothing changes and no other violations are accrued or overturned, the election scheduled on April 14 and 15 will have both Cano and presidential candidate Diana Inzunza listed on the ballot despite their former status as write-in candidates. Grossman’s ticket will not be on the ballot due to his disqualification.
Senator decides against resignation
Colbert, who also serves as a freshman senator in ASASUD, announced Friday he has rescinded his decision to resign from the ASASUD Senate, deciding instead to finish his yearlong term.
Colbert announced on April 1 he would resign from his post immediately following the conclusion of Friday’s ASASUD Senate meeting. The day prior, Colbert had met with the ASASUD Judicial Board for a hearing regarding an impeachment case that had been filed against him.
However, after being asked by various senators and executive board members to remain a senator, Colbert changed his mind.
“I still want to work with students I think I can do more for students inside ASASUD instead of outside of it,” Colbert said.
Several ASASUD representatives spoke with Colbert about remaining a senator for the rest of the year, including Director of Public Relations Beth Wischnia, the other freshman senator, Vivian Padilla, and Walter Cronkite School Sen. Leslie Sims.
Colbert was involved in an impeachment hearing on March 31 for violations to the election code, which he said affected his original decision to resign. He said his hearing was “indicative of the fact that student government downtown is running amok.”
“I thought it was a way to show people student government wasn’t where it should be,” Colbert said. “But, it just made more sense for me to be in ASASUD.”
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
