Ramsay faces disqualification as EUSA is thrown into turmoil
Adam Ramsay
The presidential race at the University of Edinburgh was thrown into complete disarray last week as the leading candidate was disqualified and the announcement of the election result postponed, pending an appeal.
Adam Ramsay, the front-runner and favourite in the race to become president of the Edinburgh University Students Association, was disqualified by election officials for a breach of the rules by members of his campaign team, a move unprecedented in the association’s 124 year history.
Mr Ramsay, who—according to EUSA insiders—won the popular vote, was disqualified from the election by the students’ association’s returning officer, Graham Boyack, after two supporters were found to be campaigning at the University of Edinburgh’s Pollock Halls of Residence out-with permitted hours.
Mr Boyack received several complaints, most notably from Pollock Halls security, who caught the members of Mr Ramsay’s campaign team soliciting support illegally and decided midway through the final day of voting to disqualify Mr Ramsay.
Speaking to The Journal, Mr Ramsay claimed he had done nothing wrong and has appealed the decision.
He said: “There is no precedent for this disqualification. I have not broken any rules, in fact no-one has even accused me of breaking any rules.
“The question is whether I knew what my campaign team were up to. Now, I have more than forty people helping me in this campaign, and there is no way I could have known where everyone was at any given time.”
Harry Cole, one of Mr Ramsay’s presidential rivals, said in a statement: “Despite a clear decision from Graham Boyack, Adam Ramsay has decided to appeal the decision. Nobody wants a cheat as resident and nobody wants the EUSA elections process dragged through the mud.
“Graham has done a fantastic job over the past few weeks and I know he did not take this decision lightly. Adam is on a fool's errand if he thinks he knows better.”
Nick Ward, another candidate, said: “I am absolutely disgusted. Adam was caught trying to subvert the democratic process. He has been disqualified, rightly so, by the returning officer, who recognized that his electoral gains from cheating were too great, and now he is trying to worm his way out of his disqualification again.
“I really do not think that the students want a cheat as a President and I cannot see how, if he does win his appeal and election, he will be able to form any relationship of trust with any other elected officials or members of staff.”
Mr Ramsay hinted that he believed Mr Boyack’s decision had been influenced by his political rivals, in particular Mr Ward and Mr Cole, pressing for his disqualification.
“If the same kind of rigidity had been applied to the other candidates as was to me, then all the candidates could have been disqualified.
“I am the only candidate not to lie to the electorate. Harry Cole lied over his involvement with EUSAless, Nick Ward tried to mislead people about his background, and Gabe Arafa’s campaign team were going around at the start of this week saying I was disqualified before the alleged incident had even taken place. For me to be the one disqualified in this context is ludicrous.
“Elections should be decided by who won or lost the popular vote.”
Mr Ramsay is appealing the decision, a process that could last well into next week as assembling the appeal panel—which consists of the university rector, the EUSA president, the Vice President Services, the university principal and the Dean of the Faculty of Law—is expected to take some time.
Further to this, The Journal has learnt that the Students’ Association is currently taking legal advice over whether they are able to replace several members of the panel over perceived conflicts of interest.
Pre-emptive complaints have already been lodged by Harry Cole and Nick Ward over the impartiality of the appeal body as the university rector, Mark Ballard, is a close friend of Adam Ramsay, who ran his 2006 campaign. They are also both members of the Green party and both ran during the Scottish Parliamentary elections last year.
In a joint press release, Mr Cole and Mr Ward—formerly at loggerheads during the election campaign—said: “All the candidates have expressed concern that Mark Ballard, rector of Edinburgh University, sits on the appeals committee and have written to the University Secretary explaining this.”
Two other members of the panel are also thought to be contentious. Incumbent EUSA President Josh MacAlister is a controversial presence as he is seen as long-term rival of Mr Ramsay, while sitting VP Services Tom French resigned from the elections board, allegedly to support Mr Ramsay’s campaign.
According to anonymous EUSA sources, the meeting of the panel is expected to take place next week.
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