Federation of Students Elections

The Election Committee has reached a decision on an allegation made to the Committee.

The candidate has been informed of the decision, and as such the Election Committee is releasing the text of the decision to the public.

On January 27, 2010 an allegation was made to the Election Committee that candidate Nikki Best was in violation of the Federation of Students’ Election Procedures. The allegation read as follows:

I would like to make the following anonymous allegations:

1. VP Internal candidate Nikki Best, has violated Council Procedure 6 section:

   G.1.d. Campaign outside of the campaign period

2. VP Internal candidate Nikki Best, has violated Council Procedure 6 section:

   G.1.i. Submit all materials to the Chief Electoral Officer for approval

3. VP Internal candidate Nikki Best, has violated Council Procedure 6 section:

   G.1.j Only use approved campaign materials

4. VP Internal candidate Nikki Best, has violated Council Procedure 6 section:

   G 2.b. All campaign materials, including web and social media tools, must be approved by the Chief Electoral Officer of delegate.

5. VP Internal candidate Nikki Best, has violated Council Procedure 6 section:

   G.3.a Use of social media should be checked by the Chief Electoral Officer prior to use. The Chief Electoral Officer or designate must be invited to any relevant application and, if possible, be placed in a moderator or administrative capacity. Official capacity of the Chief Electoral Officer should be noted if possible.

The attached 2 files are screen shots of a Facebook group titled 'Volunteers for Team Yellow'. It can be noted that:

1. The administrators of the group are the above accused (Nikki Best, Sarah Cook, Bradley Moggach and Nick Soave)
2. There are posts made outside of regulated campaigning period. For example:
   • January 19 - Nikki Best 'Yay for Nick being acclaimed! Now, let's get the rest of us in'
   • January 24 - Sarah Cook 'My cell # is 519-496-7756 if you need to get ahold us/me at all tomorrow and beyond'
3. A direct effort to conceal the group was made in the Information section 'Do not tell anyone about this group.'
4. As the Chief Electoral Officer is not a member of this group it is therefore assumed that this campaign material was a) Not submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer for approval prior to use and b) Not approved for use as campaign material

Since all accused can be seen commenting or posting on this group it is therefore certain that they are all aware of the groups existence and have participated in its activity. Having made note that the group is a secret and that it should not be told to anyone else they are all clearly aware that it is not in conjunction with sections outlined in Council Procedure 6.

After considering the allegation, the elections committee has rendered the decision that the candidate in question is not in violation of Council Procedure 6. The use of a Facebook group in order to gather volunteers would not be considered campaigning, by examining the screenshots of the group it was determined that this group was used for the purpose of gathering volunteers. Additionally, since this group was secret, the candidates showed due diligence in ensuring that only those that they felt might volunteer for them would join the group. It is clear to the Elections Committee that this group was not created for purposes of campaigning but more to prepare the campaign. As a result, the candidate is not in violation of G.1.d as they were not campaigning, additionally the candidate is not in violation of G.1.i, G.1.j, G.2.b, G.3.a as the material was not campaign material.

Regards,
Chris Neal
Chief Electoral Officer
Federation of Students