The Election Committee held a meeting last Tuesday where the main topic for discussion was that of “slates,” which roughly translates to political parties.

The current De Anza election code states that slates are illegal and that candidates could be disqualified if caught running on slates.

Worried about disqualification from the election, The Student Alliance, a progressive coalition of 17 candidates, approached the Election Committee and asked them to further define the rule, the reason being confusion on multiple explications.

The alliance was specifically concerned of the rational behind a rule enforced by the committee a day prior. “The 5:00” said that by 5 p.m. Wednesday, posters such as “17 Heads are Better than One” and those listing the 17 candidates on one poster had to be removed from campus.

Tuesday’s meeting highlighted a guest speaker- the Vice President of Student Services Robert Griffin- who said that those posters by definition of slate is “campaigning as a unit.”

“We [Griffin and the district legal council] think that that is a violation of your election code,” Griffin said.

Vice President of Students Rights and Services candidate under Student Alliance Colleen McGuire said that the fact that candidates cannot form slates goes against their First Amendment rights.

“It’s a constitutional right for me to associate with whoever I want on a public campus. I feel like I ran in this election with these people. I took a risk … I don’t even believe it’s a risk. I believe that I have a constitutional right to form a slate … I’ve talked to some lawyers about that,” McGuire said.

In addition, students from the alliance and students supporting the alliance felt that the definition changed from last year, even though it had the exact same wording.

During the past two elections, the election code stated the same diction that candidates may not form slates. However, to violate the committees at the time interpreted this to solely include a “vote for all” box on the ballot.

“This means you can’t do XYZ, even though you could do it the year before. It’s unfair for those who didn’t know that,” said former De Anza Student Body President Sharla Stevens.

Senator Kea Lowen said, “It still would have been violating ‘The 5:00’ under whatever definition you go by.”

Griffin said that to follow the election code candidates must “compete on an individual basis, so as not to give anyone an unfair advantage or disadvantage … I also understand that people [candidates] read it [the code], understood it.”

DASB adviser John Cognetta said “We went over these rules pretty clearly.” He said that the committee chaired a mandatory candidates meeting to discuss the legality of slates.

According to Cognetta, alternative meetings took place where candidates, who couldn’t attend the mandatory one, could discuss the topic and get questions answered.

Committee member and former Inter Club Council Chair James Harris Williams said that because of multiple meetings, candidates could get multiple ideas of what constitutes as a slate.

“There’s no question about slates. There was no slates,” [sic] Cognetta said.

Presidential candidate Luis Bocaletti said, “Your definition of slate was not in the election code.”

“But, you asked for definition. We gave you definition,” committee member and current Vice President of Technology Christopher Domingo said.

“You gave me definition for here. but what i’m saying, it can’t be implented into the code. for next year, it can,” Harris Williams said.

Candidates from the Student Alliance still had questions. In addition to the inquiry about “The 5:00,” candidates from the alliance were concerned that running under the same slogan might constitute as running under a slate.

Griffin said that he and the district legal council felt that a slogan is not considered a slate. “It is a right, a freedom of expression, freedom of association.”

Thus, he said, that he and the district council think the students have a right to post posters, which read “Student Alliance.” “You can’t stop a person from supporting another person,” Griffin said.

In the aftermath of the Tuesday’s meeting, candidate for the position Vice President of Marketing and Communication Huong Nguyen said, “After the election committee meeting, I was disgusted. People who have a set mindset on issues or topics don’t belong on the election committee. Regardless of how well we fight or argue our case, they already know that they are going to shoot us down.”