Manny Felix’s victory for the 2015-2016 ASUA presidency was short lived.
He was disqualified from the presidential race after his victory was announced Thursday night by elections commissioner Diego Alvarez.
At the announcement, Issac Ortega, current president of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, said that Felix had won against opponent Hannah Sager but was disqualified, leaving no current president for the 2015-2016 academic year.
Felix, a junior studying political science and Spanish translation and interpretation, beat Sager, a marketing junior, by 238 votes with a total of 4,990 student voters in this election.
While Felix has not previously held a position within ASUA, he was president of the Beta Omega chapter of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity until this spring and has worked at the Dean of Students Office for three years.
Sager is the current presidential chief of staff and has been involved in ASUA for the past three years.
Alvarez said Felix was disqualified for violating terms of the election policy. According to Alvarez, Felix violated chapter 5, section 3 of the ASUA Elections Code campaign conduct policy.
According to Alvarez, a “few” complaints from students were made to the ASUA offices Thursday morning. When the complaints came in, it was Alvarez’s job to fully investigate the complaints to ensure complete validity before disqualifying Felix.
“The decision was made purely with everything that was in front of us,” Alvarez said.
Felix said he will appeal this decision and that he knows that neither he nor his team violated any campaign regulations during his run for presidency.
In 2011, both presidential candidates were disqualified for violating the Elections Code. The election ultimately went into a special election after the appeal process, where James Allen won.
To appeal the decision, Felix will need to submit his appeal to the ASUA Elections Commission, which will ultimately decide if his appeal is valid. If his appeal is denied, he can place an appeal under the ASUA Supreme Court. If again denied, a special election will be held.
In a special election voters will again decide between Felix and Sager in a speedier process, Ortega said.
More ASUA election results
Evan Hastings, a mechanical engineering junior, was elected executive vice president and won by 1,540 voted against opponent Richard Gallon. Hastings, who has worked as an appropriation board director for the past two years, will work to increase funding for clubs.
Tatum Hammond, an English sophomore and current administrative chief of staff was elected administrative vice president. Hammond wishes to expand, innovate and collaborate as AVP.
10 senators were elected including:
- Haley Schwartz, a public health junior
- Matt Lubisich, a freshman studying political science and economics
- Natalie Scibilia, a freshman studying pre-business and math
- Maddy Bynes, a junior studying political science and history
- Joe Zanoni, a political science junior
- Andreas Zai, a pre-business freshman
- Trey Cox, a sophomore studying pre-pharmacy and government and public policy
- David McGarey, an engineering freshman
- Alec Kretch, a pre-computer science sophomore
- Alexa Jenkins, a sophomore studying criminal justice and psychology
2015 ASUA General Election Official Results
Total ballots cast: 4,990
President:
Manuel Felix 52.4% (Disqualified)
Hannah Sager 47.0%
EVP:
Evan Hastings 76.6%
Richard Gallom 22.7%
AVP:
Tatum Hammond 68.4%
Louie Mbarkeh 31.0%
Senate (winners):
Hailey Schwartz 10.5%
Matt Lubisich 8.6%
Natalie Scibilia 7.1%
Maddy Bynes 7.1%
Joe Zanoni 7.0%
Andreas Zai 6.5%
Trey Cox 6.4%
Alec Kretch 6.2%
David McGarey 6.1%
Alexa Jenkins 5.35339%
__________________
Senate (losers):
Zeina Cabrera-Peterson 5.34802%
Omar Pereyra 5.2%
Zachary Berenson 4.7%
Citlali Aguilar-Cañamar 4.7%
Taylor Susan 4.6%
Trinity Goss 4.3%
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