All the UOSA presidential campaigns have violated UOSA campaign codes and have received fines for the misconduct.
The UOSA code outlines specific election and campaigning rules to protect the rights of voters and to maintain a balanced playing field. The code states that candidates cannot campaign or display materials within 50 feet of a polling location or campus computer lab during election days.
Fines are $20 and are charged to the students’ bursar account. The fine is applied for each day the candidate continues to break the rules, said Jeff Riles, election chair and law student.
Wednesday morning, presidential candidate Franz Zenteno was campaigning on the South Oval, within 50 feet of Dale Hall, a polling location. The UOSA election board said it asked Zenteno to move.
“We go out every day and look to make sure people are following the rules,” Riles said. “You will see people in golf carts moving them back. If they don’t move or continue to break rules, they will be fined.”
Riles said the board keeps a log of everything it sees and every rule infraction. At the end of elections, it reviews the cases and decides whether the elections were fair.
“It’s really hard to say when it becomes unfair,” Riles said. “If he is in front of the polls influencing voters, not only is he putting himself at an advantage but he is also infringing on the rights of voters.”
Zenteno’s campaign also put campaign fliers at Campus Lodge apartment buildings Tuesday. The UOSA code states that all material in private places must have written consent of the owner. However, an employee at Campus Lodge said the complex did not speak to anyone about these fliers.
“We don’t give permission for that,” said Kelly Morwood, a Campus Lodge employee. “There is only one flier allowed at Campus Lodge, so a student must have put that up on his own.”
Zenteno’s running mate Cory Lloyd, advertising senior, said he knows leaving materials at apartment complexes is against the rules and does not know who hung them up there.
“This shouldn’t reflect negatively,” Lloyd said. “Campaigning goes beyond Franz and I. It’s not a direct reflection of who we are.”
Zenteno, international and area studies and French senior, and Lloyd were fined for display of campaign materials within an academic building. The board also fined Ally Glavas and Zac McCullock, presidential and vice presidential candidates, for the same infraction.
“We have a lot of volunteers working for us,” said McCullock, international business and entrepreneurship sophomore. “They were told about the rules, but unfortunately you can’t have eyes everywhere. They put them inside some buildings with double doors and thought it would be OK.”
McCullock said he and Glavas, political science sophomore, removed the signs as soon as they knew about it. However, signs were still present Wednesday evening inside the Physical Sciences Center.
Also, the board fined Glavas and McCullock’s campaign earlier in the year for sending e-mails to student organization presidents with campaign information. McCullock said after learning they were outside the rules, they changed their format and made sure not to do so again.
“Ally and I went through the day before elections and made sure all our signs were 50 feet away, and we have made careful notes about all our finances,” McCullock said. “We are making sure we don’t go anywhere over the $2,000 limit, even if you can go 15 percent over.”
The Election Board has fined presidential candidate Nicholas Harrison for placing signs within 50 feet of the OU College of Law every day since Sunday, Riles said.
Harrison said the law school fine surprises him because he e-mailed Dean Coates asking where signs could go before placing them. Harrison said he does not know about the fines and has not seen e-mails from the election board about them.
Presidential candidate Jess Eddy, religious studies and political science sophomore, and his running mate Jay Kumar, University College freshman, received fines for chalking outside the Oklahoma Memorial Union where they were not assigned, Riles said. The election board designate specific chalking locations, which Eddy and Kumar did not follow.
Eddy and Kumar signs also were seen on at least three benches along the South Oval, although Riles did not mention them.
To make sure candidates are aware of the rules, the election board specifically hosts a training session about how and where to campaign, Riles said.
“Oh, gosh, yes, they should know better,” Riles said. “Absolutely. They know way better. It’s irresponsible.”
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Firefly21 2 years, 1 month ago
I loved how the election board would scream at Franz and Cory and other candidates then go give Ally and Zac hugs
boomersooner10 2 years, 1 month ago
It's funny that Jeff would think the candidates are irresponsible. How about the way you ran your election board, Jeff?
hillelkkiller89 2 years, 1 month ago
How about we stop them from harassing us when we are trying to go to class? I for one would love to be able to walk down the south oval without being accosted by candidates. I walked down Asp around to Price Hall just to go to class because they are driving me crazy.
boomerm9 2 years, 1 month ago
It seems to me that this article is a little one sided. I think we can all recognize that all campaigns violated multiple rules, even if it was not filed. Also these grievances are pending, so they could simply be accusations.