www.dailycal.org/article/104689/students_vote_to_remove_senator_from_office
Photo: Elections Council Chair Emily Liedblad looks over the tallied results of the recall election yesterday in the ASUC Senate Chambers on the first floor of Eshleman Hall.
David Herschorn/Photo Elections Council Chair Emily Liedblad looks over the tallied results of the recall election yesterday in the ASUC Senate Chambers on the first floor of Eshleman Hall.
Comments Comments + Following a highly contested recall process, students voted to remove ASUC Senator John Moghtader from his senate seat. This unprecedented removal of a sitting senator was supported by 2,689 of the 3,786 students who voted in the Feb. A two-thirds majority vote was needed to remove the senator from office. However, ASUC officials say technical difficulties and ongoing litigation concerning the recall will not alter the results. Election-day difficulties included a technical error that allowed voters to cast ballots through the campus's AirBears network. The good-faith filing deadline to enter Judicial Council suits regarding elections violations has already passed. As a result, only Michael Sinanian, ASUC attorney general, may file suits alleging election bylaw violations. "I'm planning on filing a few cases of my own in the next few days," he said. "If John Moghtader is looking to overturn this ruling, he will have to do so outside the ASUC at a higher court." The results will be made official when read into the ASUC Senate minutes, which will likely occur next Wednesday. Junior Marcus Caimi, second runner-up in last year's ASUC General Election, will assume Moghtader's seat, as the first runner-up has said he is not interested in the position. While disputes over the election's legality and procedures have sparked debate, student reactions to Moghtader's recall have been mixed. But the controversy surrounding the election has some students questioning the efficacy of the recall process. "There were a lot of questions that people are asking," said senior Kate Franz. "Personally, I was a little bit upset by all of the attention it's drawn. While some followed the course of the recall closely, others said the low election turnout revealed the indifference of the majority of the student body. "The students who voted will probably care, but I doubt anyone else will," said Elections Council Poll Coordinator Lindsay Bailey. Moghtader said he is still deciding whether to contest the validity of the election, and would consider referring to a higher court only as a last resort.
Daily Cal News Blog "I'm going to exercise all of my options in the ASUC before doing anything like that," he said. "I hope the ASUC judicial system can see that clearly there is a tremendous abuse of power here. You have senators, chief of staff, the president-it's conspiracy of the worst kind." Internal e-mails recently made public revealed that CalSERVE officials-including ASUC President Roxanne Winston-actively supported the recall since the initial November altercation in Eshleman Hall involving Moghtader. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office decided not to press charges regarding the incident. Some senators said they were pleased with how the election went, considering that numerous Judicial Council suits had made it unclear whether an election would be held at all. "I'm just really proud of the Elections Council for pulling it off the way they did," said independent senator Saira Hussain.
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