Student’s campaign restricted
By Robyn Kriel
Staff Reporter

Student Government Association presidential candidate Blake Eason said he was informed Sunday night that he has been restricted from speaking to campus organizations regarding his campaign.

The decision was made after an emergency three-hour meeting of the SGA judiciary board Sunday, where a majority vote ruled that Eason, a junior finance major, would be disciplined due to a violation of the election code.

Eason made a speech Oct. 14 resigning from his position of parliamentarian of SGA because he said he wanted to run for president. A subsequent article in the Skiff included this information.

Nick James, chairman of the judiciary board, said Eason violated Section 3.11 E of the election code, which restricts campaigning before the opening of the formal campaigning period. Students running for office are not supposed to start campaigning until Oct. 29, James said. He said Eason also violated Section 3.10 E, which restricts the use of university publications for campaigning, with the exception of paid advertising.

This violation was brought to the attention of the judiciary board two weeks after Eason’s speech and the subsequent Skiff article, when one of Eason’s opponents in the presidential race filed a formal complaint, accusing him of early campaigning.

“In no way did I mean to campaign,” Eason said. “I just did not want to leave people wondering about my resignation. I did not want to leave a gray area.”

Neither Eason nor James would give the name of the opponent who filed the complaint. However, James, elections and regulations chairman, said both the speech and the article were in direct violation of campaign rules.

“All the presidential candidates are instructed to read the election code,” James said. “So ignorance regarding a violation of that code is not an excuse.”

Eason said the restriction has totally devastated what would have been a important campaigning week for him.

“I had over 50 different organizations that I was going to speak to — Connections, sororities and fraternities, the International Students Association, (the Organization of Latin American Students) and many, many more,” Eason said. “They informed me of their ruling at midnight last night and I have not had a chance to contact many of the organizations to tell them I cannot speak to them. It is very damaging to my credibility.”

Jason Ruth, who is also campaigning for president, said he understands the reasoning behind the action taken against Eason but does not think it is fair to keep him from speaking to organizations.

“Everyone needs to hear the candidates speak,” said Ruth, a senior marketing, entrepreneurial and e-business major. “I think that is the most important part of the campaign.”

The other candidates, Anthony Oppermann and Jay Zeidman declined to comment on the accusations made against Eason.

Eason said there would have been a direct conflict of interest if he had not resigned as parliamentarian. He said the position of parliamentarian is supposed to interpret the rules, which he could