By Vince Gasparini | September 25, 2024
A Student Association Supreme Court case filed against the Elections Commission and Senator Trevor Pettit for improper handling of confidential election information has found Pettit at fault for using information that was not directly provided by the Elections Commission Chair, according to an opinion from the court.
The case was filed by Senators Nicolas Feldman, Emma Rennard and Marcos Perez.
Senators meet with newly elected Senators for the first time at the Sept. 18 Senate meeting.
Photo Credit: Vince Gasparini / The ASP
The case alleged that Pettit received knowledge from Senator Shawn Millington on Sept. 14 that contained the vote counts of write-in candidates from the SA Fall General Election who had not yet been made aware of the election results. Pettit then used this information to contact Senator Tyler Baretta, who had won as a write-in candidate, as part of his campaign for Vice Chair of the Student Association Senate before the results were released.
It was not stated how Millington obtained the information regarding the results of the write-in candidates; Millington did not respond to a request for comment from the ASP.
The Senators who filed the case argued that this gave Pettit an unfair advantage and that his actions were in violation of multiple Senate bylaws.
Pettit subsequently filed a motion to dismiss, where he claimed there was no “malicious intent” in his actions and that he, along with Millington, was unaware that the information was confidential.
“My actions were based on the honest belief that the document I received was public, and I acted in the spirit of inclusivity, rather than seeking any unfair advantage,” Pettit stated in the motion.
The Court, however, found that regardless of how the information was used, it is a violation of Senate bylaws to use confidential information before its release.
While the Senators who filed the case requested the Court to recommend Pettit’s impeachment, they found that would be too severe of a punishment, and instead ordered Pettit to issue a formal, written apology to the petitioners and to Senate Chair Ethan Madappatt.
In a statement to the ASP on behalf of the petitioners, Perez said, “I respect the decision of the court and while I understand the court’s opinion that the punishments could’ve been harsh, we need to be able to trust the institutions and address possible abuses of power, which I am glad the Court took seriously and under their wisdom and guidance were able to adjudicate fairly. No one is above the rule of law.”
The court also recommended that all branches of SA include a confidentiality notice in all official emails going forward, and will now require the Elections Commission to only disclose information “pertaining to that race” when asked about race outcomes, and not disclose vote tallies of other races.
Elections Commission Chair Isabella Blauvelt-Mercado did not respond to request for comment regarding the case.
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