The executive candidates for Reboot UofT, a slate running for the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) elections, have been issued 10 demerit points for violating pre-campaigning rules, as ruled by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO).
On February 14, The Varsity revealed Reboot’s tentative platform and list of executive candidates. Reboot’s presidential candidate, Micah Ryu, spoke to The Varsity about some aspects of his platform, including clubs funding and a plan to dissolve executive positions in the future.
The CRO presented a ruling that issued 10 demerit points to each executive candidate based on “gross violation of the Elections Procedure Codes Article VI pertaining to pre-campaign (1a) and Fair Play (1g, sub-section v1).”
The ruling noted how Ryu acknowledged in the article that speaking to The Varsity could be considered pre-campaigning, and he “knowingly proceeded to violate the rules.” The ruling considered Ryu’s decision as a “lack of appropriate judgement and respect.”
Reboot UofT’s director candidates were not issued demerit points, as they were not mentioned in the February 14 article.
Ryu told The Varsity that he plans to appeal the decision.
Demerit points are issued when candidates violate election rules found in the UTSU’s Elections and Procedures Code. Any executive candidate who earns 35 demerit points will be disqualified from the election.
Last year, the 1UofT slate was disqualified for failing to provide notarized translations of Chinese campaign material into English to the CRO.
Voting in the UTSU elections will run from March 14–16 and will be available online at utsu.simplyvoting.com.
— With files from Tom Yun
