The Election Committee officially said they will not retract their disqualification of presidential and vice-presidential candidates freshmen Andres Cano and Vaughn Hillyard, but recommended the case be reviewed by a third party, in an e-mail Wednesday afternoon.
In the e-mail, sent to Cano and Hillyard as well as president and vice-president-elects Christian Vasquez and Jessica Abercrombie, the committee said the two sides may allow a supreme court of another ASU student government to resolve the issue.
“We strongly feel that we need to remove the Downtown Phoenix Elections Committee from any further decisions,” the Election Committee said in the e-mail. “There is an inevitable bias, everywhere on this campus, from the events that have transpired, but we all believe that something can still be done regarding this situation.”
The Election Committee said the closest thing ASASUD has to a supreme court is the Judiciary Board, but implied that body could not objectively review the case as Vasquez is the chair of the board.
The Election Committee said Vasquez and Abercrombie will have to agree to the third-party review first, and said they will no longer handle the issue.
“Whether Christian decides to go ahead with the Supreme Court option or decides not to, that this is the OFFICIAL END of the ASASUD Elections Committee involvement,” the Election Committee said in the e-mail.
Following the Election Committee’s e-mail, Cano and Hillyard sent out a second e-mail encouraging Vasquez and Abercrombie to consider the committee’s suggestion for a third-party review.
“We do not know what the outcome of going to a third-party will be; however, we do believe it is an opportunity to allow an unbiased entity to review this matter,” Cano and Hillyard said in their e-mail.
Cano and Hillyard said the events this week following their disqualification, a reference to the Election Committee’s heated public meeting Monday, indicate the need “to resolve this issue in a fair and just manner.”
“We look forward to your decision,” Cano and Hillyard said in their e-mail. “Nearly 60% of downtown students are hoping you will make the right choice.”
Prior to the Election Committee’s e-mail, Vasquez and Abercrombie told the Downtown Devil Wednesday morning that they did not plan on stepping down, as previously suggested by the committee.
Vasquez said if he and Abercrombie stepped down, the election that would follow would not include them or Cano and Hillyard.
“It wouldn’t be between Andres and Vaughn and it wouldn’t be between Jessica and I,” Vasquez said. “It would be between people that are brand new who haven’t been working for months to prepare.”
Vasquez, who could not be reached for comment following Wednesday afternoon’s e-mails, said he and Abercrombie would reach out to Cano and Hillyard’s supporters to ensure they achieve many of the platform objective Cano and Hillyard campaigned on.
“We’re making an effort to work with them to ensure that the things those students wanted from their campaign as well as our campaign are achieved,” he said.
Daniel Hatch, president-elect of ASASU West, offered at Monday’s meeting West campus’ Supreme Court to review the issue.
“Our supreme court, I know it’s not in your documents, they’re non-biased and will be more than happy to not even issue a ruling but you can meet with them, discuss things,” Hatch said. “What they have to say can be helpful.”
Contact the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu
