Appeal filed in rigged Guelph OPIRG vote

An appeal was filed with the Guelph OPIRG Board elections on the day of the vote, on the grounds of improper campaign tactics used by the eventual winners.

I must say, these kids are dealing with this really intelligently. They could just whine and complain, but instead, they're building a really solid case against the tactics used by the OPIRG in their fraudulent elections. Here's the "Request for Discovery" they've just filed with the OPIRG... (thanks once again to my anonymous sources)

April 7, 2009
To: OPIRG-Guelph Appeals Board
CC: OPIRG-Guelph Board of Directors, Teresa Szoke
Subject: 2009 Appeals Board Hearing

This is a letter to request disclosure of documents related to the OPIRG-Guelph 2009 election and request an adjournment of the related OPIRG-Guelph Appeal Board hearing until September, 2009.

OPIRG By-Laws Article 8.9 states "The members of the incumbent Board who have not been nominated in the election shall constitute and appeal board for the decisions of the Chief Returning Officer as to the eligibility of nominees, and from any member within four(4) day after the date of the election by filing an appeal signed by the member, and outlining the nature of the complaint, with a member of the appeal board. The appeal board may order a new election to be held, or make such other order as it deems necessary, after a hearing conducted in accordance with the rules of natural justice, and its decision shall be final."

In accordance with Natural Justice and Legal Discovery, we ask that OPIRG-Guelph disclose the following:

1. Minutes and notes of all OPIRG-Guelph Board of Directors meetings from March 19, 2009 to March 31, 2009

2. Minutes and notes taken of all OPIRG-Guelph Appeal Board meetings and hearings from January 1, 1976 to April 6, 2009

3. All resolutions made by OPIRG-Guelph Board of Directors from March 19, 2009 to March 31, 2009 without the call of a Board of Directors meeting

4. Proof of notification to Board of Directors of all resolutions made by OPIRG-Guelph Board of Directors from March 19, 2009 to March 31, 2009 without the call of a Board of Directors meeting

5. Emails between any of the following people: any Director of OPIRG-Guelph, any staff member of OPIRG-Guelph, Teresa Szoke, Cailey Campbell, Arden Hagedorn, Ashley Lowenthal, Dominica McPherson, Sarah White, Abigail Wilson, Arthur Churchyard, Andrew Garvie, Ravi Joshi; within the time frame of March 19, 2009 to March 31, 2009

It is reasonable expect receipt of the aforementioned disclosed items by June 1, 2009 with the OPIRG-Guelph Appeal Board hearing adjourned until September, 2009; to provide appropriate time for review.

Signed,
(NAMES OF CANDIDATES REMOVED)

For those of you who haven't been following this story, the dates specified are critical in this discovery request. You see, March 19, 2009 was the original date of the nomination deadline, and March 31, 2009 was the date the election was finally held. What these kids are asking for, in essence, is for all communication related to the OPIRG elections between the staff of the OPIRG, the already implicated members of Guelph's CSA, and the eventual winners in the OPIRG election. Basically, they're asking for any and all the "OH NO! The Tories are trying to take over, what are we going to do!?!?" e-mails that were sent between the key players and decision makers who decided to move the nomination date... thereby ensuring that these Conservative students were blocked from the Board.

Of course, it will be interesting to see what the response is going to be. I think these kids have a solid legal case, at least for the correspondence of the OPIRG staff and Board minutes. If the OPIRG refuses, the question will be why? What do they have to hide? If this decision was made on the up-and-up, then everything will be decent and in order, right?

If not... well then, I guess they'll just have to refuse their legitimate request.

This saga just got a whole lot more interesting.