It has been reported to Pelican that STAR’s ISD Candidate has been struck from the Guild Ballot due to a breach of Guild Elections Regulations and Code of Conduct. These were broken because of some ethically questionable campaign strategies involving severe privacy breaches to the ISD database.
A spokesperson from ISD has said the following about the incident:
“We recognise that a severe breach of privacy has occurred by this UWA student. This student has committed a grave error, and there will be consequences for these actions.
The effects of this misconduct would be felt by many international students who care a lot about our personal information and seek safety and comfort at their university. We condemn the actions of this individual and anyone benefiting from them.
We are utterly disappointed. We ask any student, who is distressed, to seek help at the Guild’s Student Assist. We will help the individual out to deal with the consequences of their actions.”
We also reached out to the STAR candidate for comment.
“I firmly believe I do not deserve the severe penalty I have been subjected to. I am trying very hard to see the logic in it, and I will continue to fight for the best outcome. I must emphasise that I was unaware of the consequences of my actions at the time and that the lack of any training regarding privacy to convey the importance of this matter has a role in what has transpired.”
Why has this happened?
Candidates are only disqualified when a serious breach of elections regulations has occurred. Mary Petrou (the Returning Officer) can take any other action she deems appropriate to ensure the fair conduct and administration of the election process. In this case, the consequence of this misconduct was to disqualify the candidate from running in the elections and strike them from the ballot.
You can read more about what is considered misconduct and the regulations here.
The university is currently looking into the matter further and conducting an investigation. Due to this process currently happening, Pelican Magazine is unable to comment anything further but will continue to inform the UWA community about the latest updates on Guild elections