USG election results invalidated by at least nine ineligible voters, 30 candidates affected

The Office of Student Life confirmed on May 7 that there will be a second election for all representative senators, Student Media Council and Faculty/Student Disciplinary Committee positions due to the participation of ineligible voters in this year’s Undergraduate Student Government election. 

Polling for these positions will take place May 13-15.

Annmarie Gajdos,

POP! Representative Senator

I was shocked by the news that there were mistakes made by the outside vendor used for the 2019 USG elections. It was disappointing to hear that certain candidates like myself would have to run again, especially at a time during which many students are focused on studying for final exams. 

My main concern is that voter turnout will be low due to students’ busy schedules at the end of the semester. 

Jerry Li,

Imagine Representative Senator

Personally, I feel like they messed up 9 votes, they should just track down the 9 votes and remove it from the ballot counts instead of paying $12,000 for a complete recount. Additionally, in the recount, it is during finals week so there will be significantly less voters. I am actually really worried about not being able to win again because of such issues. I think it is unfair.

Since I was only one of the four people in my party that won for Rep. Sen, I believe, I feel like it is beneficial for the rest of the party to have another chance at winning along with certain people from POP. Overall, I’m just worried that I’m not going to able to win again. 

Oh, and also they are not allowing us to campaign too. Which, as a result, limits us to social media only. 

Noah Epstein,

POP! Representative Senator

It’s a little inconvenient that it is happening before finals as well as right towards the end of the year. So it can be a bit stressful. I think it is a bit irresponsible on whoever’s fault it is. I can’t predict the outcome, but I respect whatever outcome it will be. 

Carl Rubio, 

Imagine Student Media Counsel

To be honest I’m indifferent about it right now and I’m not really caught up with everything that happened.

Conor Mullan,

Imagine Representative Senator

I am incredibly disappointed by the carelessness of Honest Ballots. It is a shame that this much money was wasted.

Taji Sanders,

POP! Representative Senator

Personally, I always to intended to be a part of USG win or lose, but this is a second chance for me to be elected. I am sad for those that ran and won, and I urge them to keep trying to get elected. Win or lose, if you have a mission, make sure to stay involved with USG so your vision can come true.

Karina Chiqui,

POP! Disciplinary Committee

After the unofficial results came out and I was informed that I had been elected for my position, it was an amazing feeling to know that our team’s hard work had paid off and I was super excited to serve the Baruch community next year. 

However, after finding out that re-elections were called for, it was difficult coming to terms as to how this situation could happen — especially considering the fact that a professional team was hired to ensure voter fraud would not occur. 

Robert A. Da Rita,

USG Chair of Philanthropy

Hearing that there has to be a re-election for certain positions was tough. Election season and campaigning can be stressful and nerve recking for some, and thinking about my fellow POP! teammates having to go through the election process again is something I never expected would happen. 

With such little time for POP! to get its name out again for re-elections and with finals approaching around the corner, I have some concerns about voter turnout, but I am hoping for the best for the team and hoping for the best for USG in the future.

Kamila Lukyanova,

International Business

Maybe if the lines weren’t so long, I would have voted.

Nicole Pung,

USG Chair of Marketing

The most confusing part about the whole thing was the sign in. The company wanted us on two different lines: one to swipe and then another to wait and vote. 

I really thought it would be so much simpler if they had kept everyone on one line and given them their voter card when they reached the front.

Jeremy Berman,

Imagine President

The news regarding unauthorized voters during our student elections is extremely unfortunate.

However, we are pleased to know that the Baruch administration has taken the appropriate steps to address and to remedy the situation through having a runoff election for the positions affected. 

We wish good luck to all of the candidates running again.

Irine Thomas, 

POP! Representative Senator

It kinda sucks that re-election is happening right before finals week. But, on the bright side, it is another way to regroup with my POP! family and get as many POP! members in USG as possible. We are all passionate people from different backgrounds and experiences and it would be great to have such a diverse USG team.

Sara Fox,

Finance

There was an issue where we had to sign in first and then go on line, but there was no clear line to indicate that you had to sign up first before you can vote, so a lot of people waited in line to vote and then they found out once they got to the front that they had to sign up, so it was a whole process that took double the time. 

And I waited on line for about 25 minutes.

I work, I have a full course load and I’m involved in a few activities on campus, so I don’t have too much free time. So, it was really difficult to find time to vote. I actually wasted my lunch time.

I officially got to vote. I think the problem was there weren’t enough computers. 

There were only 6 so you were kind of pressed for time and you couldn’t really look through the candidates. You just had to pick and choose.

Emilia Kacperak,

Marketing

It was a short line but it took forever. I went when it wasn’t club hours and there was about six or seven people in front of me and I still waited about 20, 25 minutes, which was surprising because it was on machines. It was quicker when we had paper votes.

Aaron D’Souza,

POP! Representative Senator

The voting process was confusing and the organization who hosted the polls was unprofessional. Firstly, their line system was confusing. Students had to wait in line to get a voting ticket and then another line to actually vote. Then the electronic votes occasionally would not process but staff would tell students it was okay if they did not receive a “success” indicator at the end. The staff was unfriendly and did not accept help from current USG members offering to help sort the line or at the very least bring signs down to inform students of the two different lines.

The unprofessionalism also surfaced with the staff not checking for graduate or faculty ID’s
which would have prevented the current situation.

Emma Jorgensen,

USG Executive Vice President 

I do not like that people have to re-run, especially because the elections were contested only after the results came out. I understand that people are making the argument that it was contested in order to be ‘fair.’ I personally think that the argument that anyone was contesting the elections out of ‘fairness’ is hypocritical. Nothing is fair about withholding information. 

I understand there was speculation about if there actually were issues with the voting, but all of it should have been addressed before the results came out. We were all on the 2nd floor for hours waiting for the results. Everyone was talking but nobody spoke about seeing graduate students and faculty members voting. 

If anybody thought it was the right thing to report it, they would have contested the election right after the incident.

Justin Broomfield

USG Chair of Finance

There’s so much that the average Baruch student doesn’t know about information being withheld. If you put the pieces together, it appears as if the elections were rigged for this to happen.