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News

'Deceptive' activity prompts complaint

Commission removes candidate from ballot after filing 
without permission of party

By Tina Marie Macias
Senior Staff Writer

The first complaint of the Student Government Association's spring general election was filed and resolved Monday.

SGA Speaker of the Senate Bobby Warren filed the complaint against Fredrick Butler and Heron Re'chard Thomas after Butler filed to run as president with the UH 4 U party, even though he is not affiliated with the party.

Butler and Thomas are both members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and Thomas is the presidential candidate for Student Voice, the other SGA party, Warren said.

The complaint accused Thomas of fraud, which is also known as "deceptive campaign activities," Election Commissioner Glory Ngwolo said.

"One fraternity brother doesn't do something as significant as run for the president of SGA without all of his fraternity running," Warren said. "In my mind, that was pretty solid evidence that Re'chard knew something."

But the Election Commission did not think there was enough evidence to punish Thomas, Ngwolo said.

In the complaint against Butler, the commission voided his application for candidacy, so Ngwolo said it is a non-issue.

"I'm perfectly happy with the result with Fredrick Butler. One way or another, he's off of the ballot, and that's what I asked for," Warren said.

Butler did not return calls or e-mails from The Daily Cougar on Tuesday.

His registration was an issue, Warren said, because students won't be able to vote straight-ticket this year, so they may become confused if there is more than one candidate in a party running for the same office.

"Since UH 4 U is such a recognizable name, there may be a significant number of voters out there that may vote based on that name recognition ... so it may cause some confusion as to who the true UH 4 U candidate is and split the ballot just enough to give Re'chard Thomas an advantage in the election," Warren said.

In its ruling, the Election Commission also warned candidates that no "frivolous activities" will be tolerated in this election.

"That is just how we felt. It wasn't aimed at anyone," Ngwolo said. "We just want to make sure that the election is fair."

Complaints normally don't start coming in until after the filing deadline has passed, so Warren said the issue with Butler's filing caught him by surprise.

"I think that it's an act of desperation," Warren said. "I think that (Thomas) saw how successful UH 4 U has been, and he thought that this was the only way he could win."
 

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