NEWS
Non-candidate got votes
By Dan Perry
Gazette Staff
An elections committee error landed a disqualified Arts Council
candidate 86 votes in last month’s University Students’ Council
election.
“Kyle Malashewski was disqualified for failure to attend
the all-candidates meeting. Due to an oversight, however, his
name was not removed from the ballot. The USC regrets this
error, but does not feel the overall integrity of the election
was compromised,” said USC Chief Returning Officer James
Guttman.
In response to the disqualified candidate’s letter in
Wednesday’s Gazette, Arts Council President Don Brodhagen
raised the issue at that night’s USC meeting.
Brodhagen said his first concern came when he could not find
Malashewski’s biography on the elections website.
“I contacted members of the [elections] committee, they
said they’d look into it — but I never heard anything
back. [Malashewski] told me he was disqualified, so I let it
drop,” Brodhagen said.
Brodhagen pointed to the possible consequences of the error. “Add
these 86 votes to the last place candidate [Henna Singh, who
finished with 102 votes] and she’d be in second [behind
leader Julia Rady, who had 209 votes].”
The Arts election was close; three votes separated second
and third place, as well as third and fourth place, 14 votes
separated fourth and fifth place and sixth place, was only
one vote behind in the race for the three councillor positions.
“Especially after the dental plan [referendum] last
year, we’ve really got to smarten up with the elections,” Brodhagen
said, calling for more “credible” elections.
Guttman explained the mistake: “It was an oversight
not removing him when he was disqualified,” he said,
explaining that the ballots were made before Malashewski was
disqualified.
Malashewski laughed off any questions of his impact on the
elections. “I thought it would’ve been funny if
I won, then I could rub it in their faces.
“I still can’t explain the 86 votes,” he
added.
