The Judicial Review Board returned third-year College student Micah Andrews’ appeal of the University Board of Elections’ March 12 decision Friday. The JRB’s decision found that the UBE failed to adequately compose, examine and address the irregularities presented by Andrews surrounding the Student Council presidential election. The JRB asked for the UBE to reevaluate the matter de novo and gather more information regarding three key allegations. Parties have through March 27 to submit additional evidence.
Jill Rockwell, JRB chair and senior assistant dean of career advancement and alumni engagement in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, issued the JRB’s decision Friday to remand the matter to UBE for further consideration. Rockwell emphasized the tight margin of the election and the need for an “expedited resolution.” Thus, Rockwell issued the decision as chair without convening a customary three-person JRB panel over the course of multiple weeks.
Andrews and Mitchell ran against each other for Student Council president in an election held Feb. 24-26. Andrews raised irregularities in the endorsement process of the election to the UBE — including bribery, coercion and procedural violations of UBE’s endorsement protocols — in an initial complaint filed prior to the end of the voting period. Ultimately, the March 12 UBE decision found no violation of policy by third-year Commerce student Michael Mitchell and certified him as Student Council president. Andrews appealed this decision to the JRB.
Abigail Nickelson, UBE chair and fourth-year College student, provided The Cavalier Daily with the JRB’s decision. According to Nickelson, the UBE will reassess the case de novo next week. According to Nickelson, following the UBE’s decision after implementing the JRB’s requests, either Mitchell or Andrews will be able to re-appeal to the JRB if they desire. The JRB will then choose to take the case or affirm the UBE’s March 12 decision.
The JRB’s decision Friday detailed three key issues that necessitate “closer examination” of the case. Among the issues include the UBE’s “failure to address” a phone call between Benjamin Lawrence, former Student Council vice president for organizations candidate and third-year Engineering student, and Alex Peskin, Inter-Fraternity Council president and third-year Batten student. Andrews submitted the phone call as evidence to demonstrate a violation of Article III Section 3 of UBE Rules and Regulations, which states no candidate may ask an organization to become an endorsing organization.
The JRB found contradictory evidence in Peskin’s phone call — in the call, Peskin told Lawrence that the IFC endorsed for Student Council president because “guys reached out to me … to let me know that I should sign up [to endorse] their specific position.” However, the JRB notes that in his written responses to UBE, Peskin reconstrued the meaning of the call and denied wrongdoing.
“On remand, the JRB directs the UBE to more thoroughly investigate these issues, including providing a clear explanation of how it weighed and reconciled the differing accounts of the IFC endorsement,” the JRB decision reads.
Peskin also holds a leadership role at Madison House, an organization whose endorsed positions — Student Council president and president of Fourth Year Trustees — mirrored the IFC’s, the JRB decision pointed out. The JRB asked that the UBE more thoroughly examine “the coincidence of these limited, parallel endorsements” by Madison House and the IFC.
The JRB’s decision also said that the current record regarding Andrews’ allegation of the IFC’s bar tab incentive is insufficient to prove bribery occurred. The decision asks that the evidence be reviewed again to determine whether the alleged initiative could have influenced voters, and it said the UBE’s initial reasoning that bribery would have been “impossible” because such voter turnout numbers could not be feasibly obtained is not a valid argument. Although Andrews has already provided GroupMe messages that seem to publicize the alleged bar tab, the JRB decision said that more evidence is needed to determine whether a violation occurred.
Lastly, the JRB’s decision took issue with the underexamined use of the “All [Contracted Independent Organizations] Listserv” by Mitchell — who currently holds the role of VPO. Mitchell’s access to the listserv allegedly allowed him to contact leaders of over 850 organizations at the University in his campaign, and Andrews claimed to have inequitable access to this large group of the voting population. The decision says it is unclear how the UBE processed this concern in its decision, and it asks the UBE to adequately revisit this piece of evidence.
Rockwell, in concluding the JRB’s decision, reinforced the importance that must be placed on this review process.
“Given the importance of student self-governance … the JRB does not issue this remand lightly,” the JRB decision reads. “The current record reflects [a] myriad of unresolved factual disputes and discrepancies … [and] the legitimacy of student self-governance depends upon shared confidence that elections are conducted fairly and renewed rigorously and with transparency.”
The JRB's March 20 Decision
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