Sen. Rhonda Tubbs was disqualified from the student government elections last night, despite receiving more than 34 percent of the votes for the executive vice president position.
Tubbs, who wasn’t able to campaign because of elections code violations she received Monday, said she was disqualified because a friend posted “”Vote Rhonda Tubbs”” on an America Online instant messenger profile.
Tubbs added that certain people within Associated Students of the University of Arizona have targeted her for malicious reasons.
“”It’s obviously vindictive and sad,”” said Tubbs, a finance senior. “”I can’t control that kind of behavior and really feel innocent about the situation.””
Tubbs plans to appeal the decision immediately, and said it’s obvious the student body still supports her because of her “”resounding victory”” in running for executive office.
“”No one has ever been kicked out of an election before,”” Tubbs said. “”It’s certainly not fair to take someone out of an election where the public has shown and proven they want me in office with resounding support.””
Tubbs received more votes than Sen. Patrick Cook and ASUA club advocate Michelle Gregory combined.
Cook, an education junior, advanced to the general election round because Sen. Rhonda Tubbs was disqualified from her race. He said the election code is too harsh and should be looked into for modification next year.
Cook proposed that more of the major violations be turned into minor violations because, as the code stands currently, it takes two major violations and six minor violations to disqualify someone from further campaigning or being in the race altogether.
Tubbs’ campaign violations included not receiving approval to pass out cookies on the UA Mall, sending e-mails through a campus Listserv campaigning for votes and having friends and supporters wear buttons saying “”Vote Tubbs”” during an ASUA senate meeting, all of which Tubbs said she was never aware of.
While Tubbs said elections commissioners are following protocol related to their job, she said the elections code is too strict for its own good, doesn’t enable candidates to campaign properly and punishes individuals who may not be aware they’re committing an offense.
ASUA elections commissioner Jordan Miller said candidates are able to accrue three major and three minor violations, but said Tubbs received eight major violations and three minor violations throughout her campaign.
Miller said Tubbs’ next course of action would be to file an appeal to Miller by 5 p.m. today, 24 hours after Tubbs’ disqualification announcement. Miller said she will then decide whether Tubbs’ claims are significant enough to overturn.
If Tubbs isn’t satisfied with Miller’s investigation, she can appeal the matter further to the ASUA supreme court.
