Election Committee Report on the 2010 SFUO General Elections

The 2010 SFUO General Elections and Referenda were successfully completed on February 11th, 2010. Electronic voting set up by ”Everyone counts” were used for the second consecutive year. Final results were announced for most races the evening of February 11th and only the U-Pass referendum has been appealed to the Student Arbitration Committee.

Voting began on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 and although there was a delay in PIN delivery for some students on the first day voter turnout was almost as high as last year. Polling stations were open for the full time period mandated by the Board of Administration.

RESULTS

On February 11th, 2010 the Election Committee and the Elections Office announced the following results for the 2010 SFUO General Elections:

Voter Turnout

Number of votes cast: 6,875

Percentage of those eligible to vote: 21.88%

President

STEEVES, Tyler: 3,568 (55.9%)

SAVVA, Amalia: 1,809 (28.3%)

GÉLINAS-FAUCHER, Bruno: 670 (10.5%)

ST-AMOUR, Sébastien:334 (5.2%)

Vice-President University Affairs

HAMMETT, Amy: 3,225 (55.8%)

TISHLER, Nicole: 2,559 (44.2%)

Vice-President Finance

KING, Sarah Jayne: 2,757 (46.5%)

LOKO, Sidney: 1,796 (30.3%)

HASINOFF, Maureen: 1,373 (23.2%)

Vice-President Communications

GALETTE, Paige: 3,700 (63.6%)

DENOMMÉE, Tristan: 2,115 (36.4%)

Vice-President University Affairs

HORTON, Ted: 2,808 (45.9%)

BERRADA, Osama: 1,827 (29.9%)

MARENTETTE, Stephanie: 1,485 (24.3%)

Vice-President Social

CHAPUT, Alex OUI/YES: 5,198 (86.7%)

NON/NO: 799 (13.3%)

BOA – Faculty of Arts

BRISSON, Danika – YES/OUI: 958 (83.9%)

LARGE, Mel – YES/OUI: 911 (82.4%)

LESSARD, Gillian- YES/OUI: 933 (83.6%)

OUELLETTE, Logan YES/OUI: 964 (84.9%)

SCHOOTS-McALPINE, Martin YES/OUI: 909 (81.2%)

BOA – Faculty of Civil Law

LEMIEUX-GUÉNARD, Emilie YES/OUI: 158 (81.5%)

BOA – Faculty of Common Law

DRAPER, Hannah – YES/OUI: 110 (91.7%)

BOA – Telfer School of Management

HAMPEL, Eric YES/OUI: 658 (89.2%)

HURANCHYK, Andrei YES/OUI: 592 (82.1%)

BOA – Faculty of Science

FOURNIER, Rosy – YES: 695 (85.5%)

REDOUANE, Chouaib YES: 568 (70.4%)

BOA – Faculty of Health Science

BREZDEN, Julie – YES/OUI: 547 (91%)

HEROD, Adrian – YES/OUI: 405 (71%)

KHAN, Hafsa – YES/OUI: 415 (70.5%)

U-Pass Referendum

OUI/YES: 4,322 (64.3%)

NON/NO: 2,395 (35.7%)

Environment Fund Referendum

OUI/YES: 3,619 (54.2%)

NON/NO: 3,054 (45.8%)

English Debating Society Referendum

NON/NO: 4,628 (69.8%)

OUI/YES: 2,006 (30.2%)

Senate – Faculty of Arts

SCHOOTS-McALPINE, Martin

Senate – Faculty of Law

GIRARD, David

Senate – Faculty of Medicine

BOOZARY, Andrew

Senate – Faculty of Science

REDOUANE, Chouaib

Senate – Faculty of Health Sciences

RYC, Kyle

Senate – Telfer School of Management

HURANCHYK, Andrei – 373 (54.9%)

UMOAFIA, Joy – 306 (45.1%)

Senate – Faculty of Engineering

LENDRUM, Luc – 233 (55.7%)

MUGISHA, Mycke – 185 (44.2%)

Senate – Faculty of Social Science

KING, Sarah J. – 654 (41.4%)

LESSARD, Lynne – 390 (24.6%)

HASINOFF, Maureen – 298 (18.8%)

LAUZON, Matika – 239 (15.1%)

VOTING IRREGULARITIES

Background

On Thursday, February 11th the elections office received several calls from students who had attempted to cast their ballots using the online voting website but were denied because the system said they had already voted. The Elections committee was immediately contacted and began an investigation. The Elections committee, in collaboration with the Elections Office and the online voting company, determined that:

1. The number of irregular ballots cast was 216

2. All irregular ballots were cast from the same IP address at an off-campus wireless hotspot located in Ottawa.

3. All ballots cast by students who complained that they had not voted yet were cast from this IP address.

4. The votes that were irregularly cast were cast for various candidates in all races

5. All irregular ballots were cast using student numbers in the faculties of Social Sciences and Engineering.

6. The margins of victory in all Executive, Senate, referendum and Board of Administration (BOA) races in all faculties except for the BOA races in Social Sciences and Engineering are large enough that the irregular ballots cast do not impact these races.

7. The margin of victory in the BOA in the faculty of Social Science was smaller than the number of irregular ballots cast.

8. The margin of victory in the BOA race in the faculty of Engineering was also smaller than the number of irregular ballots cast.

Consequently, the elections committee announced the results of all races that were unaffected by the irregular ballots and refrained from announcing the results of the BOA races in the faculties of Social Sciences and Engineering. Results for these faculties were withheld since they don’t accurately reflect the voting intentions of students in those faculties. Due to the time that the Elections Committee and Election Office confirmed the irregularities, the only possible moment to convey this to the candidates or the public was during the announcement of the results.

Analysis

Upon conducting a more in depth investigation the Elections Committee established that in order to cast ballots in this way an individual or individuals require access to a list of student numbers and the ability to program a script that could scan all possible PIN numbers that were assigned to students.

Since the PIN numbers were simply alpha-numeric codes with a fixed number of digits there existed a fixed number of possible PINs that could be assigned to a student. Although it would have taken a person a prohibitively long period of time to try all possible PINs, someone with rudimentary knowledge of computer programming could create a script that would cycle through all possible options until the correct PIN was used.

Conclusions

It is of primary importance that every student have a chance to cast their vote for their representatives on the BOA and Executive Committee. The irregular ballots cast had no effect on the outcomes of all Executive races and most BOA races therefore students have had the opportunity to fairly select their representatives.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the 216 students in the faculties of Social Sciences and Engineering since the margins of victory were so small. Their votes could have easily changed the outcome of those races. The Elections Committee, the BOA and the SFUO would be in dereliction of their duties if they did not make every effort to give students in Social Sciences and Engineering their say.

Furthermore, given that there are additional vacancies in the faculties of Medicine, Management, and Science it is logical to elect representatives to those seats before the summer break so that students can have a fully representative BOA to begin the next year. The only constitutional requirements regarding by-elections that might not to be fully observed by holding an election this semester are regarding the posting of a call for nominations in the campus newspapers two weeks in advance. The SFUO executive and Elections Committee can be mandated to assist the Elections office in finding additional means of promotion to ensure that all students are aware of the new election.

The alternative course of action is to hold a by-election in Fall 2010 to fill all BOA vacancies, in Medicine, Management, Science, Engineering and Social Science. It is the belief of this committee that the SFUO should not wait until the Fall to fill these vacant seats, as it would leave far too many students without representation at the BOA.

Motions adopted by the elections committee:

Motion 1

Whereas the executive, referendum questions, senate races and board of administration races in all faculties except Social Sciences and Engineering were unaffected by the irregular ballots cast; and,

Whereas the results of the Environment Fund and English Debating Society referenda have not been appealed, therefore,

Be it resolved that the following individuals be ratified as members of the executive and board of administration:

• Tyler Steeves – President and administrator• Sarah Jayne King – Vice President Finance and administrator• Amy Hammett – Vice President Student Affairs and administrator• Ted Horton – Vice President University Affairs and administrator• Paige Gallette – Vice President Communications and administrator• Alexandre Chaput – Vice President Social and administrator• Danika Brisson – Administrator for Arts• Mel Large – Administrator for Arts• Gillian Lessard – Administrator for Arts• Logon Ouellette – Administrator for Arts• Martin Shoots McAlpine – Administrator for Arts• Emilie Lemieux-Guénard – Administrator for Civil Law• Hannah Draper – Administrator for Common Law• Eric Hampel – Administrator for Management• Andrei Huranchyk – Administrator for Management• Rosy Fournier – Administrator for Science• Chouaib Redouane – Administrator for Science• Julie Brezden – Administrator for Health Sciences• Adrian Herod – Administrator for Health Sciences• Hafsa Khan – Administrator for Health Sciences

Be it further resolved that the results of the Environment Fund and English Debating Society referenda be ratified.

Motion 2

Whereas the number of irregular ballots cast are greater than the margins of victory in the BOA races in the faculties of Social Sciences and Engineering; and

Whereas seats on the BOA remain vacant in Medicine, Management and Science; and

Whereas the SFUO BOA recognizes the importance of ensuring that every student has the chance to elect their representatives to the BOA; and

Whereas voting days must be held before the end of March in order to provide enough time for appeals and ensure that results can be ratified at the last BOA meeting of the 2009-2010 mandate; therefore

Be it resolved that the elections committee recommend that the Executive Committee call a by-election with nominations beginning at 9am on March 1st and ending at 5pm on March 5th, campaigns beginning at 1pm on March 14th and voting days from March 23rd and 24th, 2010 to fill the vacant positions in the Board of Administration; and

Be it further resolved that polls open at 10am and close at 7pm.

Motion 3

Whereas the election will only be held in select faculties; therefore

Be it resolved that polling stations be located:

• Outside the main SFUO office• In the lobby of the Desmarais building• In the SITE cafeteria• In the lobby of the Lamoureux building• In the Roger Guindon student lounge