Students, faculty and staff have been reading the recent coverage of the student body elections in La Voz for the past three weeks. They’ve been watching candidates and supporters point fingers, place blame and generally annoy one another.

Now there remains one question to answer in the race for student senate seats: who won?

Unfortunately, nobody knows.

The polls closed on Saturday, May 20, but in accordance with the Election Code, the Student Activities Office held the ballots, unopened and uncounted, for 48 hours in case someone wanted to appeal the process. Someone did, and until the appeals process is completed, the ballot boxes will remain unopened and uncounted said Dennis Shannakian of the Student Activities Office.

John Carlsen took the grievances that he had previously taken to the Election Committee and brought them before the college Student Grievances Committee.

“I’m welcoming the whole appeals process,” said Les Leonardo,, incumbent student body vice president who is running against Carlsen and Celeste Roschuni.

“What [the other candidates] need to do is show how the [Elections] Com-mittee was biased,” said Leonardo.

According to Robert Griffin, vice president of Student Services, the Student Grievance Committee is the same committee who hears any student grievance about college policy. If a student were contesting a grade, this is the same committee that would hear him or her.

What this committee can do, “depends greatly on what the allegations are and what information the committee can identify,” said Griffin.

When asked what he wanted from the Student Grievances Committee, Carlsen said he wanted them to “hold [the DASB Senate] to their own rules.”

The committee is expected to meet sometime this week according to Sylvia Rueda, of EOPS.

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The appeals process

The Student Grievance Committee will:

1.Determine legitimacy of allegations.

2.Then make determination if there were any violations of policies and procedures.

3.Recommend how to correct any wrong.

What the committee can do the varies based on infraction and what resolution is being asked for by the student.