The president of Florida A&M University, Elmira Mangum, is being accused by the winner of a recent student-government election of unfairly influencing the results, reports The Tallahassee Democrat.
Justin Bruno, who last month won a close race for student-body president, on Monday asked a state court to block the university from voiding the results of the election and holding a second vote. The original vote is being challenged by the losing candidate, Victor Chrispin Jr., over alleged voting problems at the university’s College of Law, in Orlando, where Mr. Bruno and his running mate outmatched Mr. Chrispin and his running mate, 153 to 7, compared with the razor-thin margin — 1,213 to 1,210 — on the main campus, in Tallahassee.
“It is a direct indication of the incompetence of the university,” Mr. Bruno told the newspaper. He added that he believes Ms. Mangum is taking a side in the election because the student-government president is automatically appointed to the Board of Trustees, and so represents a threat to Ms. Mangum’s leadership. Last fall the board barely failed to fire her, deadlocking 6 to 6. Mr. Bruno told the newspaper he believes that Ms. Mangum sees the losing candidate, Mr. Chrispin, as a potential ally on the board.
Mr. Chrispin and his running mate filed an appeal to void the results of the first election, citing a handful of alleged mistakes in the collection and counting of the votes on the Orlando campus. The Student Supreme Court came down on the side of the appeal, according to Mr. Bruno, and ordered a new election, which was then approved by Ms. Mangum. Mr. Bruno is challenging the appeal, saying that his ticket wasn’t given a chance to contest it, among other things. He also noted that campaigning would make it look as though he approved of his opponents’ claim that the vote was unfair.
“The SGA Student Supreme Court ruled that a new election should take place, and it is up to the SGA Electoral Commission and the student body, in general, to govern themselves according to their student constitution,” said William Hudson, the university’s vice president for student affairs, in a written statement about the legal action. “Additionally, due to the possibility of pending litigation, the university cannot comment further on the matter. The university supports the students’ participation in civic engagement.”
Ms. Mangum declined to comment to the newspaper, citing the pending ligation.
