The All University Student Hearing Board discussed the issue that was recently brought up by ASMSU College of Engineering Representative Christopher Baldwin about an alleged election code violation during the special election in February.
The board will disclose a final decision in one week's time.
The complaint highlighted that ASMSU President Kiran Samra did not resign her position as chair of the Undergraduate Elections Commission prior to the beginning of the election cycle. The main controversy was the ambiguity of the election cycle and it not being specifically defined.
The chair of the commission has the power to set dates in the election process and disqualify candidates. Baldwin argued that it could potentially be an unfair advantage.
Both Baldwin and Samra were allowed to present their cases to the board.
Baldwin highlighted his belief that Samra was in violation of the code because of his interpretation of the election cycle.
"I brought it this far because I wanted to come to a point (for) an impartial group to look at (the code) and make an interpretation," Baldwin said.
He said one of his main concerns were the ambiguity of the code and setting a precedent for the future in such a situation.
Baldwin said his concern came from his involvement in a committee designed to go over the entire ASMSU code because it is constantly changing and he hopes in the future it will be better understood and followed by members.
Samra said she agreed that finding a definition for the code was important, but she believed she was not in violation of the code.
Samra brought in witnesses to corroborate her story.
"Our interpretation was that the election cycle started 10 days prior to (the election)," said Katie Ott, then member of the elections commission.
In a previous State News article, Samra said she resigned from the commission prior to this time period.
Alex Ghannam, who was a member of the appeals committee, also offered a statement to the board.
"(The definition of the election cycle) was never explicitly stated in the code so we thought it would be unfair to take her out of the running," Ghannam said.
Samra said it was a unique situation because of her position as chair and it being a special election.
"I just hope for a decision that benefits both parties," Samra said. "I'm glad...we talked a lot about the procedure of ASMSU...I want the decision that upholds the integrity of the association."
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