Following an investigation, the Syracuse University Student Association’s Judicial Review Board has decided not to disqualify Charlie Mastoloni and Jessica Brosofsky from running for SA president and vice president, respectively.

The JRB found Mastoloni and Brosofsky’s campaign is in violation of bylaws concerning the responsibility of campaigns for their staffs, according to a press release sent from Haley Robinson, SA’s director of public relations. The campaign will face a 150-vote reduction upon polls closing on Thursday at 11:59 p.m, according to the release.

The investigation began Wednesday morning after Mastoloni’s former campaign manager Austin Galovski said in an interview with The Daily Orange on Tuesday that Mastoloni’s campaign had agreed to give former SA presidential candidate Brendel a spot on Mastoloni’s potential administration in exchange for Brendel dropping out of the race.

“(Andrew) basically offered, ‘Hey, look, I will drop out of this race and publicly endorse you. I would just like the opportunity to be a part of your administration,’” Galovski said Tuesday. “… I basically told him, ‘Hey look, we’re good with this on our end and we’ll totally help you with whatever you want to do.’”

Brendel is not allowed to apply for a cabinet position due to the JRB’s concern about his motives during the incident, according to the release. Galovski is forbidden from serving in any campaign-related activities for the remainder of the election and for the remainder of the Student Association’s 59th session.

Following Galovski’s comments, the campaign of Eric Evangelista and Joyce Lalonde recommended to the JRB that it launch an investigation into Mastoloni’s presidential campaign for the possible violation of SA bylaws, Evangelista said.

The exchange between Brendel and Mastoloni’s campaign could have been seen as bribery, a source close to the situation said earlier Wednesday.

“It appeared to me as … a gross violation of the bylaws,” Evangelista said.

Bribery, as outlined in SA bylaws 5.9 through 5.10.5 on page 26, is grounds for the disqualification of a campaign. The bylaws also state that an SA presidential candidate is responsible for the actions and words of his or her staff.

Student Association Bylaws

Galovski was campaign manager at 10:34 p.m. on Tuesday and by Wednesday morning he had resigned for “personal reasons,” Brosofsky said.

“(Charlie and I) talked and decided it was in our mutual best interest for a lot of reasons,” Galovski said. “Namely because I’m getting destroyed with work this weekend and will not be able to contribute.”

In a statement issued later on Wednesday to The Daily Orange, Galovski said that Brendel had not been promised a position.

Mastoloni did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Wednesday.

Published on April 14, 2016 at 2:07 am

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