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Kyle Boyer

Thursday, April 30, 2009 5:28 p.m.

Boyer v. JEC court decision released

by Emily Cahn

The Student Court released the reasoning behind their decision earlier this year in Boyer v. Joint Elections Committee, the decision that kept Kyle Boyer off of the Student Association runoff ballot.

Boyer was removed from the SA presidential runoff ballot in March after he failed to report the fair market value for the use of a friend’s car on an election expenditure report.

Boyer brought up a case against the JEC – the SA elections oversight body – claiming they made an arbitrary and capricious decision as to the value of the jeep,  a decision which effectively removed Boyer from the runoff ballot.

The Court ruled in favor of the JEC’s decision to keep Boyer off of the ballot, claiming they did not want to take away from the JEC’s power.

Below is the Court’s reasoning behind their decision:

In a 2-1 decision, this court finds in favor of the defendant.

In finding for the defendant, this court affirms the standards of review elucidated in Ferguson v. JEC. We continue to give the JEC broad discretion and will only disturb a sanction imposed by the JEC upon a showing of abuse of discretion by the JEC.

Here, the JEC was charged with determining the fair market value of the use of a candidate’s friend’s vehicle on H Street. Even if we feel that we would have come to a different conclusion as to the value, we acknowledge the difficulty of this task and the superior position of the JEC to accomplish it. We decline to substitute our judgment for the judgment of the JEC when, as here, we could find no abuse of discretion.

Therefore, this Court orders:

that JEC Order S09-056 be affirmed,

that JEC Order S09-057 be affirmed, and

that the order of disqualification against Mr. Boyer be affirmed.

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Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:37 p.m.

Bindelglass, Lifton begin terms as SA president, executive vice president

by Emily Cahn

Julie Bindelglass and Jason Lifton were sworn in as the Student Association’s new president and executive vice president Thursday in the Marvin Center Continental Ballroom.

Bindelglass succeeds former SA President Vishal Aswani, and Lifton follows after former EVP Kyle Boyer.

At the ceremony, Aswani and Boyer gave remarks to the crowd of current and future members of the SA.

Boyer said he enjoyed his time as EVP and will miss the office next year when he is no longer a member of the organization.

“Exactly one year ago at this ceremony, I concluded my remarks with a little disclaimer,” said Boyer, a junior. “I said, ‘I’m not perfect, I’ll make mistakes, but I’ll never be so mistaken as to forget just how blessed and how favored I am.’ That was 364 days ago, and each day in between has seen its own array of excitements, surprises, challenges, and accomplishments.”

He continued, “Since I made those comments there have been about 15 senate meetings, a bunch of interviews, what seems like a million Hatchet articles, and one crazy election. Indeed in the last year much has transpired, and as promised I made my share of mistakes, both clerical and political. But, I was still privileged to serve as the vice president of one of the most energetic student bodies in the world.”

Aswani, Bindelglass and Lifton all thanked their families and friends for supporting them.

Lifton took the time to thank the graduating members of the SA.

“To the people leaving the SA today, have fun out there, whether you’re graduating or just moving on from student government, I wish you all the best of luck in the future and I thank you for your efforts this year and throughout your tenure at GW,” said Lifton, a sophomore. “To those of you who are leaving us via graduation, good luck out there, I am sure that you will all do great things.”

Bindelglass began crying when she thanked her family, friends and the SA Finance Committee for their support throughout the year.

“I could never have understood the bond that I would form with this amazing group of people,” Bindelglass said. “Thank you for the amount of time and effort, you kept me sane in the most hectic of times. Can anyone talk about initial allocations?”

SA Sen. Michael Komo, U-at-Large, won the Josh Lasky award for Senator of the Year and the new members of the SA Senate took the oath of office, making them official SA senators.

Although this year in the SA was filled with criticism and controversy, Aswani and Boyer said they enjoyed their time working for and serving the student body.

Boyer said, “It’s easy to linger in the past tense when you’re transitioning out of something, but as I leave you I have to say that I am still blessed, I am still favored, and no, I’ll never forget it.”

Updated, 4:55 p.m.

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Sunday, March 22, 2009 11:18 p.m.

Boyer to have Student Court hearing Monday night

by Emily Cahn

Student Association presidential candidate Kyle Boyer will present his argument to the Student Court Monday night at 9:30 p.m. in the Marvin Center room 401.

Boyer will argue that the Joint Elections Committee — the committee that voted to remove him from the runoff ballot — made an “arbitrary and capricious” determination for the fair market value of a car he parked on H Street during the general election.

The JEC will argue that they made a calculated decision and conducted a fair trial.

Last year’s chief judge and JEC investigator each filed briefs supporting Boyer; last year’s JEC chair and vice chair filed a brief supporting the JEC.

All court documents are available from the court’s Web site. Stay with The Hatchet for the final verdict.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6:50 a.m.

Student Court agrees to hear Boyer’s appeal

by The GW Hatchet

This post was written by Emily Cahn and Andrew Nacin.

The Student Court agreed to hear Student Association presidential candidate Kyle Boyer’s challenge of his disqualification by the Joint Elections Committee from the runoff election, according to documents posted on its Web site early Wednesday. The hearing will be held Tuesday, March 24.

Tuesday night, Jake Chervinsky, vice chair of the JEC, which oversees SA elections, filed a motion to dismiss Boyer’s complaint. He wrote:

For the plaintiff to be successful in his complaint, he must be able to demonstrate some failure of the Committee to exercise a sound, reasonable and legal process, or some evidence that the Committee’s decision was not founded in fact or law. However, in the course of his “Statement of Facts,” the plaintiff has failed to list a single fact, alleged or admitted, sufficient to establish this burden.

The court did not rule on Chervinsky’s motion when it agreed to hear the case.

The court has accepted an amicus brief supporting Boyer from Ryan Sullivan, a former chief judge of the court. A GW graduate who had also served as vice chair of the JEC, Sullivan wrote that the JEC’s decision was “determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity or reason.”

Last week, the Joint Elections Committee determined that Boyer failed to report the use of a friend’s car parked on H Street, which he borrowed to display posters, play music and dance on during the general election last month. SA presidential candidates are required to report the fair market value of all items used for their campaign.

The estimated expenditures for the use of the car – which the JEC determined using rental car pricing – pushed Boyer over the $1,000 spending limit by $92.63, adding additional violation points and disqualifying him from the runoff election.

Sullivan argued in his brief that the JEC’s assessment of the fair market value of the car was “not rational or sound under any interpretation.” The JEC, he wrote, “seemingly just picked a random number that was large enough to make Mr. Boyer go over the expenditure limit and kick him off the ballot without any reasoning or rationale for doing so.”

Sullivan also argued that the current JEC Charter allows for the court to undertake an expanded review of the JEC’s findings, well beyond the limited precedent The Hatchet reported Monday. The JEC’s answer to Boyer’s complaint, also filed with the court, reiterated the limited precedent the court has applied to itself over the years.

The hearing is scheduled for the eve of the runoff election, set for March 25 and 26, between sophomores Julie Bindelglass and Nick Polk. The court is likely to render its decision quickly and without postponing the runoff (which has already been postponed once), as the SA’s constitution requires that the election is held within 10 class days of the general election — which is March 25 and 26.

Edit: 7:10 p.m. Sunday, March 21

Boyer’s case will be heard Monday night at 9:30 p.m. in the Marvin Center room 401.

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Monday, March 16, 2009 10:22 a.m.

Boyer appeals disqualification to Student Court

by Emily Cahn

Student Association Executive Vice President Kyle Boyer filed a complaint with the Student Court Monday, challenging his disqualification by the Joint Elections Committee from the runoff election for SA president.

Boyer claimed the JEC — the oversight body for SA elections — made an “arbitrary and capricious decision” to remove him from the runoff ballot.

During the general election, Boyer placed posters on a friend’s car and parked it on H Street in front of Kogan Plaza. Though Boyer did not have to pay for the use of his friend’s car, according to the JEC’s decision last Wednesday, Boyer was required to report the car’s fair market value in his expenditure report.

Because Boyer did not report the fair market value of the car — which the JEC determined to be the cost of renting a car for two days, or the entire duration of the general election — the JEC awarded violation points. After adding the cost for the use of the car onto his expenditure report — which cannot exceed $1,000 — Boyer’s total expenditure report totaled $1,090, pushing him over the limit and thus disqualifying him from the runoff election.

In the complaint, Boyer argued that the JEC’s determination of the fair market value of the car was “arbitrary and capricous” and resulted in “the accumulation of an excess of penalties, and the subsequent issuance of the Disqualification Order.”

In 1992, the Student Court heard a case where presidential candidate Christopher Ferguson alleged that the JEC made an “arbitrary and capricious” decision to hand out ballots only to first-year students in the law and medical schools, but not to any other students.

Though Ferguson lost his case, the court has at times used Ferguson v. JEC as precedent that it would review decisions of the JEC only if they are in fact arbitrary and capricious. In 2007, the court cited the precedent in Cohen v. JEC. The court found that the JEC made an arbitrary and capricious decision to disqualify a senator-elect, Matt Cohen. The court overturned the disqualification, which was concerning the sharing an expenditure among multiple candidates. The cited precedent:

To reiterate Ferguson v. Joint Election Committee, the Student Court is not a “higher JEC” and it should only overturn decisions using the arbitrary and capricious standard.

The Ferguson and Cohen decisions can be found on the court’s Web site. Boyer’s complaint is attached here as a PDF. The court has yet to decide whether to hear the case.

Our most recent coverage on Boyer’s removal from the runoff is here.  The runoff is scheduled for March 25 and 26.

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Friday, March 13, 2009 6:10 p.m.

Boyer to file Student Court case

by Emily Cahn

After Student Association presidential candidate Kyle Boyer was disqualified from the runoff early Thursday, he told campaign supporters in an e-mail that he plans to file a case with the Student Court.

During Boyer’s hearing with the Joint Elections Committee — the oversight body for SA elections — he argued that he should not have had to list the use of a friend’s car on H Street as an expenditure. SA candidates are required to list their campaign expenditures and file the report with the JEC. A candidate’s expenditure report cannot exceed $1,000.

Because the JEC decided Boyer had to list the fair market value for the use of his friend’s car on H Street, Boyer’s expenditure report was pushed past the $1,000 limit, disqualifying him from the runoff election.

In an e-mail to campaign supporters, Boyer said he will contest the JEC’s decision with a Student Court complaint. The Court is not obligated to hear the case.

Boyer’s email is below:

Everyone,

Thank you all for your words of support, prayers, etc. I obviously am not happy about the decision. The accusations of being a cheat and a fraud are kind of offensive as well. BUT the words of support, the phone vibrating off its charger, the friends, the family, and the knowledge of being right still outweigh the bad. In my 9:35 this morning a row of students behind me (didn’t know I was there) and were talking about the Hatchet’s article. I listened to them figuring they represent the average student, and without knowing I was in the class I could hear them yell “they really screwed him” or “that is so not fair” and I happen to agree with both. Those of you who have seen my status over the last day know its Romans 8:28, which basically tells us that everything happens for a reason. Since last night, I’ve focused my deliberation on whether or not its worth it at this point: the SA needs fixing, will people even respect me as a leader, can I afford the time and effort?

To answer all of you, YES I am going to challenge the decision. Too many people have volunteered their time, changed their profile pics, etc. for me to not finish this race. As soon as we can, we will file with the Student Court, and hopefully begin the process of reversing the JEC and finishing this election.

So, go to Mexico, Aruba, Nola, or Pennsylvania like me, and enjoy your Spring Break. Rest, recoup and rejuvenate, be thankful for the things that really matter in life (not SA politics), and we’ll finish this up when we get back.

I love and appreciate all of you,
Kyle

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Thursday, March 12, 2009 4:52 p.m.

Runoff election scheduled for March 25 and 26

by Emily Cahn

The Joint Elections Committee — the oversight body for Student Association Elections — rescheduled the presidential runoff election to March 25 and 26, the week students return from spring break.

Thursday morning, Kyle Boyer was disqualified from the race, thus making the runoff election between Julie Bindelglass and Nick Polk.

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Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:25 a.m.

Boyer removed from the ballot

by Emily Cahn

Student Association Presidential Candidate Kyle Boyer has been removed from the runoff election by the Joint Elections Committee — the independent body that oversees SA elections.

The Hatchet’s story in our March 12, 2009, print edition is here. Our previous post on the hearing is here.

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:33 p.m.

JEC moves into deliberation on Boyer campaign violations

by Emily Cahn

[UPDATED 1:25 a.m. Boyer has been removed from the ballot. Continuing coverage here.]

The Joint Elections Committee, the independent body that oversees Student Association elections, just spent two and a half hours hearing presidential candidate Kyle Boyer’s defense of four campaign violations.

The JEC has now moved into executive session, which is closed to the public, to deliberate. If he is penalized on three or more of the four complaints against him, Boyer will be removed from the runoff ballot, and sophomore Nick Polk, the second runner-up in the election, will compete against sophomore Julie Bindelglass.

Boyer, a junior, has been accused of failing to report the use of a friend’s car on H Street in front of Kogan Plaza, which Boyer used to display posters, play music and dance on during general election on Feb. 25 and 26. On expenditure reports, SA candidates are required to report the fair market value of all items used for their campaign. The total of these items cannot exceed $1,000 for each presidential candidate.

Read more…

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:46 p.m.

Runoff election postponed until after spring break

by Emily Cahn

This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Alli Hoff.

Update, 7:59 a.m.

The runoff election for the Student Association presidency is postponed until after spring break. Originally scheduled for March 11 and 12, the contest was delayed to allow the Joint Elections Committee — the independent body that oversees the elections — to more carefully consider recent complaints filed against presidential candidate Kyle Boyer, the executive vice president.

The bill delaying the election was passed at Tuesday night’s senate meeting. SA President Vishal Aswani signed the bill shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, officially postponing the election until after spring break.

Boyer said he does not agree with postponing the election.

“I think the election has dragged on too long and I think people want to vote,” said Boyer. “People want to vote on the candidates’ merits and not on frivolous claims.”

SA Sen. Steve Glatter (Law) introduced the bill to delay the runoff to make sure the runoff election would be fair if Boyer is disqualified from the race.

The bill also changed the JEC charter, removing a provision where if a runoff election candidate is disqualified less than 24 hours before the start of the election, then the other candidate would be declared the winner. Now, the candidate receiving the next-most votes would be promoted to the runoff.

“I don’t think anyone would want to win by default,” Glatter said. “I think everyone can agree that we would still want to have an election so that the voters could have a choice.”

The JEC will meet Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. to discuss four complaints against Boyer over campaign financing. Boyer has already received three campaign violations during this election. If the JEC assesses him penalties for three complaints at Wednesday’s meeting, Boyer will be removed from the ballot.

SA Sen. Julie Bindelglass (CCAS-U), a sophomore and chair of the finance committee, is in the runoff with Boyer. SA Sen. Nick Polk (U-At Large), a sophomore, came in third in the general election and would join Bindelglass in the runoff if Boyer is disqualified.

“I agree with my senate colleagues on giving everyone a fair chance,” Bindelglass said. “It just gives me more time to talk to more students and get to know more people, which is something I love to do. I’m just letting them know that they have a choice.”

SA Sen. Logan Dobson (CCAS-U) emphasized that the bill does not advocate for any specific candidate.

“This is not something that is pro-Julie, pro-Kyle or pro-Nick,” he said during the Senate debate. “We’re just saying that we shouldn’t have an election until we know who should be on the ballot.”

As this year’s rules committee chair, Polk said he recognizes the flawed nature of the original JEC charter. “As I’ve said, the charter is a work in progress,” he said. “That’s definitely a clause that I’ve missed. There should never be a winner by default.”

The senate passed the bill unanimously, delaying the election for at least two weeks, though an official date has not yet been set. Bindelglass and Polk recused themselves from Tuesday’s vote. Boyer, who generally presides over the senate as EVP, was not present at the meeting.

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