Special SGA President Election Held After Complaint

Daniel Miguel was elected Student Government Association president at Kendall Campus—again.

Miguel was originally named the winner of the Kendall Campus elections, which were held  from April 9 through 11. But a special election for president was held on April 18 after a complaint accusing Miguel of violating several campaigning rules was filed with campus administration by his opponent Marisol Capellan.

On April 19, results of the special election were announced: Daniel earned 613 votes, while Capellan tallied 345 votes.

According to an April 12 email complaint, Capellan said Miguel allegedly “campaigned around restricted areas, started his campaign ahead of scheduled time, posted campaign material in Student Life areas and used sound systems outside the allowed time frames.”

Capellan said Miguel campaigned at the Koffee  House, on Facebook and went “computer by computer in the computer courtyard” on election day, the complaint said.

“My opponent Daniel Miguel was campaigning ahead of time on Facebook,” the email said. “The day of the meeting I was told that I couldn’t give out any flyers during my campaign. But on April 10 and 11, little flyers of my opponent and his vice president had been given out in areas that we weren’t allowed to campaign.”

According to the SGA Kendall Campus 2012-2013 Elections Packet, “sound systems, stereos, speakers can be used during activity hour only with prior permission.”  It also says “candidates are not allowed to campaign in the Library, Computer Courtyard or within 100 ft. surrounding designated voting areas on election days.”

Veronica Owles, Kendall Campus’ Dean of Students, said a reelection was “the fairest way to resolve the issues that were brought forth.”
“I do not feel as though there was foul play,” Owles said. “I believe there were rules that were violated because they were unclear to both candidates.”

According to Owles, both candidates met with her to discuss a reelection. They settled on a date. Both candidates were allowed to campaign two days prior to the special election for three hours by the Koffee House while Owles supervised.

Leslie Wilson, Kendall Campus’ Student Life director and Student Government Association advisor, declined comment regarding the incident.

Miguel denied Capellan’s accusations.

“The only rule that I broke was music,” he said. “I didn’t know it was a rule. Once I was told I couldn’t do it, I turned it off. I also posted a photo on Facebook before the campaigning period.”

“The music and photo on Facebook were mistakes I made because it wasn’t specified in the packet. And after they were made clear to me, I abided by those rules.”