Calling for a fair trial of a disqualified presidential ticket, five newly elected Downtown senators are threatening to filibuster initiatives presented by next year’s president and vice president.
In response to President-elect Christian Vasquez’s decision not to allow disqualified candidates Andres Cano and Vaughn Hillyard to present their case before a judicial board, the senators sent a letter to Vasquez and Vice President-elect Jessica Abercrombie on Thursday declaring their election was illegitimate.
Vasquez was given authority by the Downtown Election Committee Wednesday to decide whether to allow the disqualified candidates to have their case be heard at either the Tempe or West campus’s supreme courts.
Cano and Hillyard were disqualified in last week’s student government election for accumulating too many penalty points — points given to candidates for violating the elections code. The two candidates have claimed that three of their 11 penalty points did not violate the code.
“What we’re asking for at this point is just fairness,” said Michelle Lauer, one of the five senators. “If [Vasquez and Abercrombie] are not willing to win this thing fairly, what tone does this set for next year?”
According to the letter, the five senators will block any “nonessential” initiative the president and vice president present to the Senate, and they will not cooperate with Vasquez and Abercrombie.
“We will refuse to approve any operational budget for ASASUD; we will refuse to appoint any new senators; we will refuse to appoint any new board members,” the letter states.
Abercrombie said she and Vasquez stand by their decision to not take the case before another campus’ supreme court.
“[The letter] is something Christian and I will take into consideration,” she said, adding that the two had not had time to fully discuss the message.
Reach the reporter at kjdaly@asu.edu
