Associated Students of Madison Diversity Chair Niko Magallon brought two complaints before the Student Judiciary Thursday, saying two newly elected student leaders violated campaign rules in this spring’s student government elections.
Magallon said Rep. Maria Giannopolous pressured individuals to vote for her and other candidates when she approached them at College Library and watched them cast votes on their computers in some instances.
He said next year’s ASM Rep. Marie Kumerow illegally chalked campaign information where it could not be washed away by rain.
Sophomore Sam Seering spoke on behalf of Kumerow, saying her chalk was washed away by rain, and Magallon presented no evidence to prove otherwise.
Rep. Cale Plamann said Giannopolous was helping students vote, and if the students she approached said they felt uncomfortable she would have left.
Plamann said punishing Giannopolous for helping students vote would impede on her freedom of speech.
“What we really need to look at here is the chilling effect on speech on campus, not necessarily the actions that would be banned, but the people that would think originally [to campaign on campus] but who are otherwise prohibited from exercising their right to speech for fear of repercussions,” Plamann said.
But Magallon said violating elections rules takes advantage of students on campus, and the SJ should hold Kumerow and Giannopolous accountable for breaching them.
“I would just hope that this is a gut check for the integrity of ASM elections,” Magallon said. “These things happen every year, people think they can get away with it, and we come back and have these messy litigations. Either you all need to expand the rules…or you need to implement some harsh penalties.”
The SJ has ten school days to decide on the cases.
