Alex Flor, Chief Returning Officer (CRO) of the University of Toronto Student’s Union elections, has assigned U of T Voice candidate ZiJian Yang three demerit points for an alleged violation of Elections Procedure Code. Yang is alleged to have posted an unauthorized poster on Facebook that listed “Advocate for the elimination of winter” as a platform point.
The post was deemed a violation for both “misrepresentation of facts” and use of “unapproved materials.” In the decision, the CRO stated that the poster featured “unapproved content which goes beyond the powers of the vice-president, university affairs.” All campaign material must be approved by the CRO.
Yang explained that, “instead of just winter, the poster was supposed to say winter residence fees.” “It was really our fault at the end of the day,” he continued, “the rules should apply equally to all parties regardless of where they are from, and if that’s what happened in this case then I have no complaints.”
Yang received two demerit points for unapproved material and one demerit point for misrepresentation of fact. A maximum of fifteen and three demerit points are allowed respectively for those offences. An executive candidate who receives more than 35 points is disqualified from the election.
