March 9, 2010 News

‘Business as usual’

Chief Electoral Officer Oliver Cohen holds a tame poster night

by Clay Hemmerich

Chief Electoral Officer Oliver Cohen—who is in charge of regulating the Concordia Student Union’s general election—found that the March 9 poster night was “business as usual.”
No security breaches broke out and no fights amongst opposing slates had to be broken up. If he had needed to, it wouldn’t have been much of a fight. Fusion’s 40 purple shirt-wearing candidates far outweighed Community’s eight orange shirts.

“The crowd of candidates is minor this year,” said Cohen, who held the position last year. “Three elections ago, anybody would be allowed to poster the boards, but now we have a rule where only candidates are allowed to poster.”

As a result, Cohen has never experienced the level of chaos that prior CEOs reported facing.
Besides the reshuffling of posters to maximize board space and other minor complaints, Cohen was rarely in a quarrel or questioned. His phone barely rang throughout the evening—an evening that neared its end 15 minutes after it had started.

Audrey Peek, 2009 candidate for the Change slate, which ran in opposition to Vision, filed a contestation with Cohen against the question on the upcoming referendum to remain in the organization. Cohen confirmed that Peek was leading the Yes committee for the referendum, encouraging students to continue their CFS membership.
Cohen said he’d review the contestation later in the week.