Benjy Egel
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The Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) presidential candidates asked the Recruitment and Development Committee on Friday that Mustang News be allowed to print the candidates’ names without violating the election code — and risking fines — prior to open campaigning on April 13.
Three candidates — political science senior Joi Sullivan, computer engineering junior Will Blumhardt and civil engineering junior Connor Paquin — addressed Recruitment and Development Chair Cale Reid, members of the committee, Dean of Students Jean DeCosta and ASI Associate Executive Director Dwayne Brummett. The fourth candidate, agricultural business junior Jake Rogers, was unable to attend because of a class conflict, but his fellow candidates said he supported the statement.
The candidates asked for the change in rules, Blumhardt said, “in order to provide Cal Poly students with enough information about ourselves that they will be thoroughly informed voters on April 23.”
The candidates agreed with certain open campaigning restrictions, such as the prohibition of printed advertisements and social media promotion.
Brummett said ASI is consulting Cal Poly’s legal counsel to determine whether to punish candidates in violation of the election code, which prohibits printed information linking the candidates names to their candidacy. The legal counsel will also deliberate on whether the 10-day active campaigning window is constitutional, Brummett said.
All potential sanctions on the candidates will be postponed until the counsel has reached a conclusion. Sullivan and Paquin have both appealed their initial fines.
“At this point, we don’t really have anything to tell you about definitively about how it’s going to be,” Brummett said. “We’ve sought legal counsel and we will be waiting for that opinion before we actually share any news.”
The candidates declined to expand on their statements, citing ambiguity in the election code.