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ASI
hopeful candidate battles to get name on
ballot
By
Jennifer Frehn
Daily Forty-Niner
Assistant News Editor
An
emergency judicial meeting was held Wednesday
to decide if Elmer Sonco, a senior marketing
student, would be included on the Associated
Students Inc. ballot as a presidential candidate
or would simply be a write-in.
"All
I want is to be on the ballot," Sonco
said.
Sonco,
who was diagnosed with cancer but underwent
chemotherapy treatment last semester, said
he had intended to run for ASI president
since last semester.
"This
whole time I thought I was in," Sonco
said, "and it [was] a mix-up basically."
The
first window for filing was Feb. 14-25.
Sonco was admitted to the hospital for a
final and unexpected chemotherapy treatment
on Feb. 14. He was unable to file in the
first window because he did not return to
school until late February, after the Feb.
25 deadline. Filing rules permit a second
window for filing, Feb. 28-March 11, if
the position is still open. A position is
considered open only if one less candidate
than needed has applied.
Still
intending to run and be included on the
ballot, Sonco attended the mandatory March
8 meeting for candidates, where he explained
his situation to Heather Benton, ASI elections
commissioner. Benton said she told Sonco
that the position was closed, but that he
could run as a write-in.
"I
had explained to him that his name wouldn't
be on the ballot, and he seemed OK with
that," Benton said.
Sonco,
however, said he was told the opposite.
Sonco said that on March 8 he was told that
the position was still open. Sonco also
said he spoke with Benton on March 11, and
was still under the impression that the
position was open. A day later, he said,
was when Benton told him he could only be
a write-in.
Sonco
then met with Kim Hinkson, ASI government
adviser, on March 15 when he filled out
and turned in an eligibility form. Sonco
said he received an e-mail from Hinkson
that same day stating that his application
was received. On March 15, Sonco said, Benton
told Sonco that he was eligible.
What
was unclear to Sonco throughout this ordeal
was what the term "eligibility"
meant. At the time, Sonco believed the eligibility
form meant that he could still be considered
to go on the ballot. Hinkson, who attended
the meeting for Benton, clarified that everyone,
even write-ins, are required to fill out
the eligibility form and that it is not
related to the ballot.
"I
am really sorry that I think Elmer didn't
understand [the situation] clearly,"
Hinkson said at the meeting.
Sonco
said that the way in which Hinkson and Benton
used the term "eligibility" made
it seem like it was a privilege, and not
just something for a write-in candidate.
After
Benton told Sonco that he was eligible,
Sonco believed that the situation had been
solved. A few days later, however, Sonco
was again told that he would only be a write-in.
At
this point, Sonco filed a complaint.
Benton
said that she would have tried to accommodate
Sonco's request, if it had been done in
a timely manner. Benton cited the fact that
Sonco did not even turn in the eligibility
form until March 15, four days after the
second filing due date.
"If
he had expressed that he felt his name should
be on the ballot, then we would have waited,"
Benton said. "We gave him so many opportunities,
but he hasn't followed through."
Sonco
said that he is being misrepresented.
"The
defense made it seem like they had been
giving me an opportunity to turn in the
documents, and made it sound like I had
disappeared," Sonco said. "Sometimes
I feel they've been doing this over the
past months so I would quit."
Sonco
said he is confident that the judiciary
will vote in his favor. However, even if
the judiciary does not decide in his favor,
Sonco said he would continue to run as a
write-in candidate.
"I
am not someone who gives up easily,"
Sonco said.
The
decision of the ASI Judiciary will not be
posted until 2 p.m. today.
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