No Court Fight Over Student Government; Elections Reset
UT will avoid a protracted legal fight over the constitutionality of its student government election rules, and the elections for president will take place next week.
Dean of Students Soncia Reagins-Lilly announced the news on Monday, saying the dispute over the rules violation had been resolved. Presidential candidate Madison Gardner and running mate Antonio Guevara had challenged the election rules in Travis County Court after being disqualified. They had featured Student Events Center president candidate Carissa Kelly on campaign materials, which the Student Elections Board found impermissible under the election code.
Based on legal advice from the University’s outside trial counsel, “we’ve agreed to suspend the portion of the Student Government Election Code that stipulates, ‘no association between candidates of any kind will be tolerated,'” Reagins-Lilly said Monday in a statement on the Dean of Students’ Facebook page. “We will work with the Student Government Assembly in the coming months to review and clarify that clause.”
The resolution allows Gardner to rejoin presidential candidates John Lawler and Thor Lund on the ballot. Voting will be held March 28 and 29.
Guevara, left, and Gardner. Photo by Elisabeth Dillon. Courtesy the Daily Texan.
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