The Downtown student government is moving forward after last semester’s controversial presidential election caused a rift among student leaders.
The executive board of the Associated Students of Arizona State University Downtown met over the summer to discuss creating a judiciary party to hear arguments in the case of a disputed election, president Christian Vasquez and vice president Jessica Abercrombie said.
When the candidates who won the popular vote for president and vice president were disqualified after voting closed in the election, members of the student government’s senate said they wouldn’t work with Vasquez.
Andres Cano, the presidential candidate who won the popular vote, conceded after no third party was able to review the election because an appeals process was not in place.
“[It] was difficult for all involved, so we want to get it resolved,” Abercrombie said.
They discussed possibly creating a separate supreme court or allowing the Downtown judiciary board to decide disputed elections.
The judiciary board members are currently appointed by the president to enforce the constitution and review impeachment of members of the senate and executive board.
Last year, candidates Cano and Vaughn Hillyard won the Downtown election 454-321, but were disqualified after violating election code bylaws. One of the violations involved sending out an inaccurate Facebook message to supporters — a message that had not been approved by the Downtown Election Committee.
Cano and Hillyard met with the committee to discuss the decision, but the disqualification was upheld.
The candidates did not appeal to the Downtown Judiciary Board because the board did not have jurisdiction in election cases. Vasquez was also chair of last year's judiciary board.
The student senate, judiciary board and executive board will work together to craft an amendment to the constitution during the year, Vasquez said. The executive board has begun a process that will hopefully finish by the end of the semester. If approved, the amendment would become part of the constitution next semester, in time for the spring elections.
“[It’s] going to be a continuous effort until we get it perfect,” Abercrombie said.
Once the amendment has been drafted, 100 student signatures must be collected by a member of student government in order for this amendment to go before the Downtown Senate for a vote.
If the Senate approves the amendment by a three-fourths majority, the student body will vote on the issue. A majority of voting students must vote "yes" for the amendment in order for it to become part of the constitution.
Sen. Cailyn Bradley, a supporter of the Vasquez and Abercrombie camp, said an amendment was an important step for the Senate to take as a whole.
“We all need to come together and create something that works,” Bradley said
Sen. Sabrina Banegas, who was a supporter of the Cano and Hillyard camp, echoed Bradley’s sentiments on the need to amend the constitution.
“We as a Senate will review the current constitution, and as a group decide what changes need to be done,” Banegas said in an e-mail.
Encouraging more businesses to accept Maroon and Gold dollars and encouraging students to vote early are two of the administration’s top priorities this year, Vasquez said.
Over the summer, Abercrombie worked closely with Georgeana Montoya, dean of Downtown Student Affairs, to successfully negotiate the acceptance of Maroon and Gold at El Portal and Hsin Café.
Abercrombie hopes that they can use data from El Portal and Hsin Café’s sales to encourage other businesses to start accepting Maroon and Gold dollars.
Vasquez and Abercrombie said they are also planning a voter-blitz day in mid-September to register students to vote in the mid-term elections in November. In addition, they said they will also encourage students to request early voting ballots and to vote at an early voting location.
Abercrombie and Vasquez have remained in contact with Hillyard, who wants them all to work together to bring downtown businesses and students together to create a better community.
Hillyard said he is in the process of founding a new downtown organization called Downtown Alive to work on the Maroon and Gold dollars campaign and integrate the campus with downtown Phoenix.
“The whole reason I ran as vice president in the first place was because I really wanted to help connect our students with the downtown community,” Hillyard said. “Just because I am not serving in that position doesn’t mean that I can’t still go through with that. That’s where the idea for Downtown Alive came from.”
Hillyard said he believes this new organization “can work hand-in-hand with ASASUD.”
He said he supports the Downtown student government, an organization he calls the “idealistic center” for the campus.
However, he still sees room for improvement.
“ASASUD has a long way to go to prove itself as a trusted organization on this campus,” Hillyard said.
Cano is working in Washington, D.C. this semester as an intern for U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo. He will not be involved in student government.
“It was a difficult decision to delay my academic plans,” Cano said, adding that he looks forward to immersing himself on the Downtown campus when he returns.
The next Downtown student government meeting is Friday.
Reach the reporter at mary.shinn@asu.edu
