By Elizabeth Faragi

The University of Maryland’s Student Government Association Elections Commission disqualified both the JusticeUMD and RollTerps tickets from the 2026 SGA elections — the only tickets this year. 

According to commission records, JusticeUMD was convicted of “campaigning prior to the official start of campaigning” on Tuesday. This is a Class B violation and a 90-point penalty, according to the records. Class B violations are the second most severe and sanctions range from 50-99.  

Earlier this semester, the commission previously convicted JusticeUMD of “campaigning prior to the official start of campaigning,” as well as “campaigning in bad faith” on March 11 and March 30, respectively. These Class B and D violations hold a 60 and 15-point penalty, respectively. 

These violations combined exceeded the 100-point limit, leading to JusticeUMD’s disqualification.

Peyton Steinberg, the RollTerps presidential candidate and a junior government and politics major, said he felt the decision was reasonable.  

“I feel like it’s justified,” Steinberg said. “The things they’ve been doing, this feels very justified. Justice has been served justice.” 

On April 7, the commission disqualified the RollTerps ticket from the elections for “ticket collusion done in bad faith.” 

Leonard Fomin, the head elections commissioner, said the Elections Commission defines this as “a deliberate unlawful action by a ticket, individual candidate, or ticket(s) to collaborate/conspire with another ticket, individual candidate(s), or ticket(s) to subvert the Elections Rules or Regulations.”  

This is a Class A violation and 100 point penalty that warranted disqualification. 

“This has just been a rollercoaster,” Steinberg said. “It has been ups and downs of just what’s going on. It doesn’t feel very democratic at this point.”

This is the second consecutive year that SGA election results have been postponed because of election violations. 

Last year, the Terps for Israel student organization offered free Chipotle and Chinese food to students if they voted unfavorably on the divestment referendum. However, no sanctions were imposed. 

This story will be updated with more information.

Featured Image: A view of McKeldin Library. Photo by Paige Trendell.