Newly election Associated Students, Inc President Terry Martin had to defend himself to the Elections Complaint Committee in Lassen Hall on Friday regarding four different complaints that were filed against him and his student political party, Vote Impact.

A total of 15 complaints were originally filed with the Elections Complaint Committee. Of those complaint filed, six were filed against the Vote Impact slate. The remaining eight complaints were authored by members of Vote Impact; six were authored by Kevin Kraft and two by Martin.

Current ASI President Roberto Torres said the number of complaints was unusual, and that it seemed as if a majority of the complaints filed were in response to a large number of complaints filed against one person.

“If you win an election, you shouldn’t be complaining about the losers. It’s beating a dead horse. But I guess everyone has a right to complain,” Torres said.

All but five of the complaints filed were deemed to be without sufficient merit and were not heard at the hearing. Also, at the hearing, Kevin Kraft of Vote Impact dropped his complaint filed against Alex Sakhnyuk.

The four-member committee heard each of the remaining four arguments before a crowd of about 25 people.

First complaint to be heard was filed by former presidential candidate John Arndt. His claim was against Vote Impact slate. It was directly related to a Meet the Candidates event that was sponsored by the sorority Phi Sigma Sigma. The complaint centered on the possibility of misappropriation of funds from Dollars for Clubs and Organizations, of which Martin is chair.

“All of the aforementioned factors contribute to a violation of the fairness of the campaign, exceeding campaign expenditure limits, and the use of ASI funds for campaigning,” Arndt said in the complaint.

Martin and Chris Smith, both representing the Vote Impact slate, gave their opening remarks. Evidence of wrong doing was submitted for the record and the committee asked questions for further clarification.

Each side was allowed to give closing remarks and the second complaint was introduced to the committee.

The second complaint was filed by Yeimi Lopez against the Vote Impact slate, with Martin and Smith again representing the group. Lopez held that Martin misused his personal ASI Vice President of Finance office to house campaign materials and hold meetings for Vote Impact.

The complaint from VP of Finance candidate Sandra Gallo was also heard at the hearing.

Gallo also argued that Martin had misused his office and that he wore his Vote Impact shirt inside the ASI office, a violation of the election policy.

The final complaint that was heard was filed by former presidential candidate Vince Vicari against the Vote Impact slate. Vicari held that members of Vote Impact wore their campaign shirts during the Family Feud event held in the Redwood Room of the University Union on the day of election.

Vicari said this was a violation because the event was held near a polling station, and candidates were told not to campaign inside the Union.

According to the ASI code, the committee has up to 10 business days to make their decision on the remedies that were asked for in the complaints filed. The committee expressed their thanks for all participants involved and said they plan to make their final decisions known to the public with the next five business days.

Matt Harrington can be reached at [email protected].