Voting Extended to Post-Pesach Students Following Student Court Ruling, Wilf Election Results Delayed

While polls closed on April 29 at 11 p.m., results for the Wilf Campus Student Government elections have not yet been released. According to Dovie Solomon (SSSB ‘21), chair of the Wilf Canvassing Committee, the delay is due to a lawsuit that was filed in the Wilf Student Court regarding the election. “In order to maintain a fair process to all potential voters the results are being held,” he said. 

The Commentator learned that Akiva Poppers (SSSB ‘22), current president of the Student Organization of Yeshiva and a candidate in the race for president of the Sy Syms School of Business Student Council (SSSBSC), filed a suit in the Wilf Student Court against the Canvassing Committee on Election Day, arguing that students arriving in Yeshiva University’s Post-Pesach Program (PPP) should be considered undergraduate students for the purposes of voting in student government elections. Poppers’ case was the seventh brought before the court during the 2020-21 academic year. 

According to the suit, the Canvassing Committee previously decided that PPP students are not eligible to vote in elections. Poppers, however, stated that he called the registrar’s office which “said that PPP students are undergraduate students.” 

On April 30, Bryan Lavi (YC ‘21), chief justice of the Wilf Student Court, announced that the court came to a unanimous decision on Poppers v. Canvassing Committee. The court ruled that PPP students are, for the purposes of voting, considered undergraduate students “and can vote in Wilf Elections for YSU President, YSU Vice President of Class Affairs, YSU Vice President of Clubs, SOY President, Vice President, PR Secretary, and all amendments, as mandated by the constitution.” Student government positions in the SSSBSC and the Yeshiva College Student Council were not included in the court’s list of positions that would be affected by this ruling. 

Since ballots were not sent to PPP students on Election Day, the court ordered the Canvassing Committee to allow them “to exercise their constitutional voting rights” by sending them ballots. As stated above, Poppers is a candidate for the SSSBSC presidency; his prospects in the race for the SSSBSC presidency will therefore not be affected by this decision.  

“I am pleased that the Court has reversed the Canvassing Committee’s discriminatory policy and encourage all Post Pesach students to exercise their civic duties and vote in the election,” said Poppers. 

The court stated that the time and date of the voting period for PPP students will be determined by the Canvassing Committee. The Commentator learned that ballots were sent by Solomon to PPP students on April 30 at 2:31 p.m. The ballots will be open until Sunday, May 2 at 1 a.m. Solomon did not respond to The Commentator’s inquiry regarding how long after the election the results will be released. 

The Wilf Student Constitution stipulates in Article X, Section 1 that “Within three days of Election Day, the Canvassing Committee shall disclose the data regarding numbers of voter turnout, and the number of votes cast per race, as well as per candidate on the ballot.”