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Election Committee Decision #6The Election Commitee 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 Jenna Goodhand was in violation of the Federation of Students’ Election Procedures. The allegation read as follows: I would like to allege that the VP Internal candidate Jenna Goodhand violated Council Procedure 6 section G.1.g. : Neither the candidates nor campaign volunteers shall: The following is an copy-and paste email recieved when members sign up to www.whoisgoodhand.com "That being said I would love to show you my personal thanks by entering you into a draw to win an MP3 player when the election period has drawn to a close. For more details on this check out http://www.votegoodhand.com/ A bribe can be more than just alcohol or money. It can be defined as: Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, It is quite easy to see from her note that this is more than just a "thanks for being a great volunteer" draw. This email is sent to anyone who signs up to "solve the mystery - who is jenna goodhand". The idea of potentially winning an mp3 player is enough to alter someone's voting behaviour. If it were simply an appreciation gift, it would not be mentioned in the email sent to those just inquiring who is Jenna Goodhand. The site this email points the recipient to the www.votegoodhand.com site, where the contest is AGAIN mentioned that if you sign up to this site (www.whoisgoodhand.com) you would be “I don’t just want to share with you my vision for Waterloo. A big part of my platform is about showing appreciation and celebrating all the wonderful things that students on campus do to make our experience a shared one. That being said I would love to show you my personal thanks by entering you into a draw to win an MP3 player when the election period has drawn to a close. Visit my contest site at whoisgoodhand.com, take a few seconds to fill out the information, and you’re done! The draw will he held just after the voting period, stay tuned for details!” --- After considering the allegation, the Election Committee has rendered a decision. It is clear in the text of the allegation that the accused is using a draw to win an MP3 player to sway people into volunteering for the campaign. Although an MP3 player isn’t necessarily money, the Election Committee after deliberation determined that the spirit of the procedure was violated in the sense that money is being used and being distributed in the form of an MP3 player. As a result, the Elections Committee finds that the candidate is in violation of Council Procedure 6, G.1.g. Therefore, the Election Committee is ruling a fine to be taken in the form of a 15% reduction in the candidate’s spending limit as per Council Procedure 6, H.4.a. Regards, |
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