Congratulations, Angert and Kluger!

Calen Angert (MSB `11) and Jason Kluger (MSB `11) have won the GUSA presidential election, according to an email sent out by Election Commissioner Mirco Haag (SFS ‘09). (Want to see what Angert and Kluger hope next year will look like? Read their campaign promises here.)

The ticket was one of two that ran in a runoff election on Tuesday after none of the eight tickets in the GUSA primary (results here) received enough votes to garner the win. Angert and Kluger beat out candidates Jeff Lamb (MSB `10) and Molly Breen (MSB `11). The primaries, in which Lamb and Breen received only 476 votes (18.3% of the votes) to Angert and Kluger’s 598  (23% of the vote), somewhat foreshadowed Angert-Kluger’s victory.

Lamb and Breen almost did not appear on the ballot, having been disqualified by the GUSA Election Commission the night before the primaries along with candidates Peter Dagher and Elias Ibrahim. Lamb-Breen, Dagher-Ibrahim, GUSA President Pat Dowd (SFS `09) and several GUSA members protested the controversial decision, which the GUSA Constitutional Commission ultimately reversed, putting Lamb-Breen back on the ballot.

In the end, Angert-Kluger triumphed with 1423 votes, 54.54% of the 2609 votes cast. The two MSB sophomores won by 237 votes, nearly doubling the lead they had in the primaries. GUSA will vote to certify the results on March 18, and the formal transfer of power from Pat Dowd (SFS ‘09) to Angert is scheduled for March 19.

OpenGUSA has the complete and certified results from Friday’s GUSA primaries, in which a total of 2,592 students voted. Angert-Kluger and Lamb-Breen were the top two tickets (with Angert-Kluger on top by almost 200 votes), and will go head-to-head in a runoff on Tuesday after tomorrow night’s candidate debate. Submit questions for the candidates here!

1. Calen Angert (MSB ‘11) and Jason Kluger (MSB ‘11) — 598 votes (23.07%)
2. Jeff Lamb (MSB ‘10) and Molly Breen (MSB ‘11) — 476 votes (18.36%)
3. Josh Mogil (SFS ‘11) and Lauren Klein (MSB ‘11) — 405 votes (15.63%).  This may explain why Mogil fought so hard to keep Lamb-Breen and Dagher-Ibrahim disqualified.
4. Joe McGroarty (COL ‘10) and Dimitrios Koutsoukos (SFS ‘10) — 304 votes (11.73%)
5. Peter Dagher (COL ‘10) and Elias Ibrahim (SFS ‘10) — 268 votes (10.34%)
6. Cory Perkins (SFS ‘10) and James O’Brien (MSB ‘10) — 145 votes (5.59%)
7. Brock Magruder (COL ‘10) and Brian Litwak (MSB ‘10) — 143 votes (5.52%)
8. Sean Hayes (MSB ‘10) and Andrew Madorsky (MSB ‘10) — 117 votes (4.51%)

Students also cast 136 write-in votes, which made up 5.25% of the total votes cast.

So what’s the Hillary Clinton effect going to be? If your candidate isn’t in the top two, who are you voting for? Are you voting?

On Monday night, openGUSA will host a debate between GUSA primary winners Calen Angert and Jeff Lamb.

You can schlep to Healy 104 at a time TBA or can watch as openGUSA live-streams it, but either way, openGUSA invites you to submit your questions for the candidates. You could email questions to gusapresidentialdebate@gmail.com, but we thought we’d make it even easier—just type your questions in below and they’ll make their way to the proper authorities!

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An anonymous source has told Vox Populi that the top two candidates in the GUSA primary election are Jeff Lamb-Molly Breen and Calen Angert-Jason Kluger. No word on the vote breakdown yet.

The candidates will participate in a runoff election (and possibly a debate) next week.

Update 7:27 p.m.: according to openGUSA’s Twitter, Mogil-Klein, who tried to block the reenstatement of Lamb-Breen, Dagher-Ibrahim, Josh Mogil isn’t about to accept these election results laying down:

“Candidate Josh Mogil files complaint with the Election Commission citing voter troubles.”

Jeff Lamb at Tuesday night’s emergency GUSA session

I don’t know what I like more about this photo—Jeff Lamb’s attempt to restrain himself, or Dimitrios’ sweater.  Thoughts?

Celebrate!

At 1:33, the GUSA Constitutional Council sent the following email:

Dear GUSA Candidates, Members of and Advisors to GUSA, Members of Campus Media, and Fellow Hoyas,

Below are the GUSA Constitutional Council Rulings RE: the Appeal Brought forth by the Lamb-Breen, Dagher-Ibrahim, and Mogil-Klein GUSA, Presidential-Vice Presidential Tickets on Wednesday, February 25, 2009.

The Council wishes to express our appreciation to you for your thoughtful comments and your respect for each other, this process, andd our decisions.

Hoya Saxa,

Andrew Mok (SFS’ 09), Justin Weiss (COL ‘09), and Shane Giuliani (SFS ‘09) GUSA Constitutional Councilors

Last night’s emergency GUSA meeting spawned the Constitutional Council, which the Senators charged with making sense out of the current situation. This morning, slighted-feeling ticket Jeff Lamb and Molly Breen filed an appeal of the Election Commission’s decision to disqualify them:

Incorrect Application of the Election Rules: Appeal to the Constitutional Council

Submitted By Jeffrey Lamb, For Public View, On Behalf of the Lamb/Breen Ticket

This document is an official complaint, filed by myself on behalf on the Lamb/Breen GUSA Presidential/Vice Presidential candidate ticket, to the first appointed Constitutional Council. As you are surely aware of the situation at hand, I will only briefly outline the disqualification and ensuing situation.

On the evening of February 23, 2009, at approximately 6:00 pm, Molly and I received an email from Sophia Behnia, the election commissioner, informing us that our ticket had been disqualified for a second violation of University and Residence life flyering policy. This was indeed our second infraction of this policy, and at no point do Molly or myself claim that the commissioner is unfounded in this claim. The first violation was a flier found in ICC, not on a bulletin board, but above a pay-phone. We, along with all other candidates, received an email saying that a second violation of the flyering policy would result in the ticket being disqualified. The second violation was made known to us, when Ms. Behnia and the E.C. reported that less than ten fliers had been put under doors on Darnall Hall. The quote below is taken directly from the email notifying us of our disqualification.

“Yesterday, a student (not even a candidate) emailed us photos of your quarter-sheets stuffed under doors in Darnall Hall.  This is a direct violation of the residence hall posting policies which we emailed you last week.”

The rest of their appeal, along with their letter to students, after the jump.

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Again!

Oh my Lord baby Jesus. What a meeting.

Some people walked in at 9:30 hoping this would be a short one, but not tonight. Things started out orderly enough, and with more members of the public in attendance than there have ever been this year. The important part, (not that you would know it, cause it was before all the yelling), was that the Constitution Commission was elected. Its brand new members are Andrew Mok (SFS ‘09), Shane Giuliani (SFS ‘09), and Justin Weiss (COL ‘09).

Their job is to hear the complaints of all the GUSA Presidential candidates, and, I believe, to adjudicate based on all the evidence they hear. Their qualifications are a little less clear. It seems to me like finding unbiased people to serve on these commissions has translated into finding disinterested people. Andrew, when asked if he had any relation to anyone involved in the election, said, “I’m not even aware of who’s running at this point.” Wowza.

The only other thing that affects the future of the election is that Nick Troiano (COL ‘11) said he hoped the Election Commission would come to a decision by tomorrow (Wednesday) about whether to press play on the vote that was suspended earlier today. No word on whether that’ll happen or not; Sophia Behnia (COL ‘09) didn’t even go to the meeting, although the other two Commissioners, Frederick Moore (COL ’09) and Will Dreher (SFS ’09), attended. Not that they spoke, but maybe that was a good thing, considering how heated things got later on.

Would you like the highlights? Here are the highlights, including a near-fisticuffs with Jeff Lamb:

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Last night, the Election Commission, which will run the primary for GUSA Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates has decided to disqualify two tickets, Voice- and College Dems-endorsed Jeff Lamb and Molly Breen, and Peter Dagher and Elias Ibrahim.

Update 1:34: The College Democrats are encouraging a write-in campaign on behalf of Lamb-Breen. Look to our Twitter for further updates. Update 8:54: Student efforts (especially by Pa Dowd and those behind Twitter’s openGUSA—Troiano, I presume?) have failed to reinstate either party on the ballots the Election Commission mailed out at about 4:00 a.m. Are you planning to write in either ticket?

According to emails exchanged between GUSA President Pat Dowd and Election Commission member Frederick Moore, campaign posters for the two tickets appeared in illegal places. The Hoya confirms:

Lamb and Breen posters were found in the Intercultural Center and Darnall Hall, which violates resident hall posting policies. Dagher and Ibrahim posters were found in O’Donovan Hall and Village B.

Dowd expressed vehement opposition to the decision. But even his insistence that the violations were minor, that the two tickets had worked hard on sincere campaigns, that GUSA’s legitimacy was at stake, and his quoting of Pearl S. Buck  to the Election Commission (“Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied”) couldn’t save the candidates. At 7:30, Moore wrote,

“Thank you for voicing your concerns.  Please know that the Election Commission read your email and took it into account when re-evaluating our decision to disqualify the two tickets.  We also greatly appreciate your service to the Georgetown community and hold your advice in high regard.  Unfortunately, after discussing the issue with the other two members of the Election Commission, we have decided to uphold the disqualification.  As such, neither ticket will be on the ballot that will be sent out later tonight.” [Emphasis his]

Dowd responded, “With all due respect, I have to say that this is the most insensitive, asinine decision that I have witnessed during my entire year in office.”

I’m inclined to agree. The full text of Dowd’s plea appears after the jump. What do you think?

Update 1:26: Peter Dagher to Election Commission before his disqualification (partial email), and it’s not without some j’accuse of its own:

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Molly Breen and Matt Jeff Lamb

Today, the Voice editorial board, which has interviewed all the candidates running for GUSA President and Vice President, gave its endorsement to Jeff Lamb and Molly Breen. But don’t take our word for it! Vox wants you to make a (more or less) informed decision when roughly a fourth of you decide to vote in this year’s GUSA election!

We’ve sent surveys to all eight presidential candidates and will post them as we receive them. Below, Jeff Lamb explains why he and VP candidate Molly Breen deserve to be elected as top execs—and why they deserved the Voice’s endorsement.

What are three things you’d try to accomplish as GUSA execs?

As GUSA executives, Molly and I would restructure and improve campus safety with additional funding, and the launching of our proposed student escort service: Safewalks.

In addition, we would use our relationships with campus administrators to lobby for cross-school minors. As part of your education experience here on the hill, we believe it is natural for students to explore a spectrum of fields. The University to should recognize academic exploration as a part of education, and cater to student’s needs via the establishment of cross-school minors.

Finally, we would use our organizational experience to fights the costly and time consuming 61D noise violation. This semi-new noise violation, voted on by the Georgetown Neighbors Association makes it possible for you to receive a misdemeanor and a $300 fine if the noise level of your party is over 61 decibels. We plan to work with the Neighbors Association and local businesses to reduce the severity of noise violation penalties in the Georgetown area.

What qualifies you to be GUSA’s next President and Vice President, keeping in mind that how you’d look as an odometer is fair game.

Molly and I both have proven organizational experience that has vested us with polished listening, planning, and operational skills. As Chief Operating Officer of the Georgetown University Student Investment Fund, I understand organizational structure which fosters tangible action. In addition, my job as a student assistant in the Office of the President has given me the opportunity to build relationships with various administrators, and to get experience with the inner workings of Georgetown.

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