We at the Wheel are glad that Kadean Maddix was named the Residence Hall Association (RHA) president due to many unfortunate, yet preventable, events that unfolded over the course of a long election process between candidates Akshay Goswami and Jessica Simon.
Following a general election in which neither Akshay Goswami nor Jessica Simon achieved a majority of the vote, a run-off election occurred between Goswami and Simon, where Goswami ended up winning the re-vote. After this happened, Simon accused Goswami of cheating, and he was disqualified. However, Goswami appealed the disqualification and was granted another re-vote, where Kadean Maddix was allowed to re-enter the race as a candidate. Simon won this vote. The vicious cycle did not end there. Goswami proceeded to accuse Simon of cheating, and both candidates were disqualified. Simon then appealed the accusations.
We at the Wheel are concerned about the ramifications of cheating. We feel that not only should cheating as a whole be outright rejected and result in a total disqualification, but we also wonder if the penalty for cheating (in this case, community service) is even enforced. This goes back to previous points made in our staff editorials regarding cheating. We are well aware that social media presents many gray-area challenges that make it difficult to determine what is illegal campaigning and what is not, however, we feel that guidelines concerning the use of social media should still be clearly outlined and adhered to. Complicating the matter even further, SGA and RGA have enforced different punishments for cheating. Though we understand that they are different organizations with different functions, we feel that their guidelines for cheating should be the same.
Therefore, the RHA board should have immediately defaulted the presidency to Kadean Maddix, the only candidate who stands clear of cheating charges. We hope that in the future, to maintain the credibility of the democratic process, RHA and SGA will clear up the ambiguity in their rules and stress that cheating cannot and will not be tolerated.
The above staff editorials represent the majority opinion of the Wheel's editorial board.
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