Several posters promoting U of T Voice candidates in the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) spring elections have been defaced. The posters, on display in the Gerald Larkin Building at Trinity College, have had some of their platform points altered and features drawn on the candidates’ faces with a black marker.
“We’ve spent a lot of time developing our team’s materials,” said Yollen Bolo-Kamara, Voice’s presidential candidate, “so it’s unfortunate that the materials we developed were vandalized. We believe that the way to show your support for or against ideas is at the ballot box, rather than preventing other students from sharing their ideas with the campus community.”
In a separate incident, some of former U of T voice director candidate Candi Chin-Sang’s campaign materials have been defaced, after she dropped out of the election and endorsed Team Unite.
“People should stop vandalizing posters. Everyone has the right to campaign — people spend money on these posters, the UTSU spends money on these posters, and it’s not fair,” said Pierre Harfouche, vice-president, university affairs candidate for Team Unite.
As of press time, the person responsible remains unknown. Munib Sajjad, president of UTSU, and Sandy Hudson, executive director of UTSU, were in the Larkin Building documenting evidence of the incident. The Chief Returning Officer, Alex Flor, declined to comment on the incident.
