Campus Echo StaffThe results are in. Olivia Robinson will serve as N.C. Central University’s 2015-2016 student body president. Alongside her, Alesha Holland will be student body vice-president.
Kourtney Daniel-Robin-son is set to reign as Miss NCCU next to Omari Collins, who breezed to the throne as Mister NCCU. But this year’s election was not without its glitches.
The election season ran longer than usual, according to political science junior and SGA Student Body Vice-President Olivia Robinson. “It’s usually 10 days and it was 21 days this year. We usually find out the results at the [Mister and Miss NCCU] pageant,” Robinson said.
This year the Mister and Miss NCCU pageant was held one week prior to voting day, and instead of polls opening at 8 a.m. and closing at 8 p.m., the polls stayed open until 11:59 p.m.
Candidates, their campaign teams and the student body looked forward to receiving the results April 14 at 10:40 break. Instead, candidates got an email from SGA adviser Kent Williams on Tuesday at 12:29 a.m., saying that there were “allegations” of cheating.
In the email, Williams also said that he would be “investigating each ‘allegation’ and will follow up with the candidates involved.” History social studies junior Deron Perkins said he saw red flags when his campaign manager sent him pictures of a young woman telling early college students who to vote for.
Among the pictures was a photograph of candidates’ names written on a dry-erase board in the early college student lounge. “I went up the chain of command and went to Kent [Williams], the SGA advisor,” said Perkins. Perkins said he later received an email from Keshante Cavin, SGA director of elections and transitions.
The message referred to the SGA’s Elections Handbook Section 6, Letter K: “Candidates are prohibited from polling stations on elections day while elections are taken place.
“Polling stations include computer labs, workstations, and any areas on campus with two or more public computers having Internet access.” Cavin wrote in the email that because Perkins’ opponent, Olivia Robinson, was not pictured in the presented photos, his claims were invalid.
Additionally, “the young lady in the photos” was not on anyone’s campaign team. Robinson said she did pay the early college students a visit on election day, but the visit took place after the voting-eligible juniors and seniors had left for class.
“From running my own campaign last year … and from serving on other people’s campaign teams, I knew that early college students could vote,” said Robinson.
“During election season and even before election season, I would go over and talk to them. I have built relationships with some of them, so I know them.”
Robinson said that when she walked in after all eligible students had voted, she saw a candidate sitting with some students with a laptop open. One of the four candidates for Mister Junior, Joseph Able, said he witnessed several election candidates walking around campus with laptops, iPads, and tablets trying to get students to vote.
Able also said that some candidates were holding unapproved events and posting unapproved flyers for their campaigns. “It should never get to the point where you feel like you should have to force someone to vote for you,” said teary-eyed Robinson. “It just takes all the fun out of it. All of the gratification you get out of serving the students, it takes all of that away when you factor in cheating. Cheaters only cheat themselves.”
