By Elizabeth Faragi

The Student Government Association is navigating uncharted territory following the disqualification of both the JusticeUMD and the RollTerps tickets, leaving University of Maryland students confused and unsure about the student government’s future. 

Last week, both tickets were disqualified from the SGA elections, leaving major seats vacant. According to a campuswide email sent by the Elections Commission, an SGA Continuity Committee will be established to continue SGA operations until a special election is held in the fall. 

The committee will consist of the head elections commissioner, the chief justice and the treasurer. They will serve as official liaisons and spokespersons for the SGA from the adjournment of the final spring general body meeting through the conclusion of the fall special election, according to the email. 

The email also said that the committee will not make policy decisions on behalf of the SGA. The Elections Commission also barred any candidates who ran on either ticket from running in the fall special election. 

The Elections Commission also released the only confirmed results from the election. These were for the representatives of the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the College of Information. Both candidates ran unaffiliated with either ticket, and one candidate won with only five votes. 

JusticeUMD presidential candidate and deputy student liaison to the College Park City Council, Amira Abujama, commented on the elections at the city council meeting on Tuesday. 

“In [my] role as student liaison, [I] really believe in upholding democracy and ensuring things are fair,” Abujama said at the meeting. “Despite [my] work as student liaison, I will never have an opportunity to be involved in SGA in light of this decision. They did not give us any chance to express our viewpoint while they were making this decision … we view this as very unfair.” 

This university’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America is petitioning for a resolution to the SGA election turmoil and a return to fair and free elections, according to an Instagram post on April 20. 

Cole Christesen, a freshman government and politics major and one of the YDSA chapter’s communication chairs, said YDSA opposes the special election and is petitioning SGA to release the election’s true results.  

“We want the results of the election that already happened to determine the students’ elected representation,” Christesen said. “If all but two candidates are getting disqualified from the election for violating the rules, then they are clearly too strict, and we would be better off ignoring them and trying to come up with a better system for next year.” 

The YDSA petition has surpassed 100 signatures. According to the SGA bylaws, the governance board must hold a hearing for any petition of the student body that received more than 100 signatures. Christesen said the hearing will be on Friday at 10:30 p.m. 

“I think the ideal situation would be the governance board says, ‘Okay, we’re walking back the special election. We will use the results of the actual election that occurred this spring to determine the winners,’” Christesen said. “I think anything else is, frankly, undemocratic.” 

Despite the uncertainty, some students are indifferent to SGA operations. Students also experience a disconnect between them and SGA. Alexa Forbes, a junior government and politics major, said she didn’t vote in the elections. 

“I have no idea how to vote, where to vote or when to vote,” Forbes said. 

Junior government and politics major Peyton Bigelow said she felt the elections were not talked about enough or publicized enough. 

“At least for me personally, I didn’t see the elections advertised anywhere,” Bigelow said. “I didn’t know what any of the candidates were running on.” 

Skye Volpicella, a sophomore government and politics major, said she feels like there isn’t a lot of publicity about SGA as a whole, including elections. 

“I feel like I don’t hear anything about SGA,” Volpicella said. “As much as I hesitate to admit it, I can’t imagine that they truly do much … I feel like I haven’t even heard of anything that they’ve ever done in office.” 

Featured Image: The Student Government Association office in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union. Photo by Anika Stikeleather