http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/upimage/VF_I18F_009.pdf

Media

Part of BSU members disqualified from SA election, March 4, 2009

Text

SPECTRUM3/ 4 / 0

9

SU members disqualified
from SA election
By REN LaFORME
Senior News Editor

The upcoming Student
Association (SA) election,
which many have consid­
ered notable for its large
quantity of candidates
compared to last year, has
lost two contenders for SA
seats.
Current Black Student

Union (BSU) President
Darnell Cummings and
current BSU Publicity
Coordinator Yasmin Paula
were disqualified from the
race for failing to obtain
the required amount of
signatures on their appli­
cation petition.
Cummings was running
see ELECTION page 4

4

Only 147 signatures
ELECTION from page 1

for the position of president and
Paula was running for vice president.
Student Association election
rules stipulate that all candidates
for student office must acquire
150 undergraduate signature_s in
order to be considered a candidate for office.
While reviewing the petitions,
the SA Elections and Credentials Committee noticed that
Cummings and Paula's petition
appeared to have less than the
required amount so they decided
to take a closer look.
"Over the past three to four
days we've been reviewing all
petitions," said Joshua Boston,
member of the SA Elections
and Credentials Committee and
former managing editor of The

Spectrum. "This one stood out to
us on Friday and we.continued to
look over it over the weekend." .
Closer examination found that
the petition only contained 149
signatures and one student was
also found to have signed twice.
The student's signature was
d.isqualified, bringing the total
amount down to 147 signatures.
"They miscounted, it was an
honest mistake on their part,"
Boston said. "[Cummings] was
very disappointed, but was a
good sport about.it."
...
The committee will continue
to review all petitions to ensure
they are all valid, according to an
SA press release.
"We hold all students to the
same standards," Boston said . .
E-maH: spectrum-news@buffalo.ed1r -