Following a University Court decision Tuesday that denied a prospective candidate from running in the March 30 Student Government election, a collaboration between a campaign volunteer and the SG commissioner of elections is being called into question.
Questions arose after University Court officials became aware that Crawford Leavoy, a “highly involved” volunteer with the “Making It Happen” ticket, assisted Commissioner of Elections Devin Reid in preparing materials used during the trial that upheld the election board’s decision not to allow John Magliolo to run with the “In Focus” ticket.
One of Reid’s duties as commissioner is to defend election board decisions in appeals trials, but some officials think Reid’s use of Leavoy’s advice in writing a University Court brief created a conflict of interest — one that might have ethical implications.
“Technically, it’s not against the election code,” said Jason Wesley, former SG vice president. “There’s obviously a conflict of interest. It’s going to be someone’s judgment call.”
After the Tuesday hearing, University Court Assistant Justice Ryan Berni pointed out to Leavoy that there was a misspelling in Reid’s brief.
Leavoy then responded that he had written the brief himself.
Matthew Butler, another assistant justice for the University Court, also said he heard Leavoy suggest that he — instead of Reid — had written the brief.
Butler said that while he does not remember exactly what Leavoy said, he saw Leavoy in the SG office earlier that day “writing it” — in reference to the brief.
Neither Berni nor Butler voted in the appeal.
Berni is a College of Arts and Sciences candidate for president on the “In Focus” ticket. He did not vote because the election code requires University Court officials who are also candidates to abstain from voting.
Butler had ruled on the initial case, so he could not vote — justices are not allowed to vote after previously ruling on a case, according to University Court bylaws.
Leavoy said he had not written the brief Reid presented but that Reid had used a brief from the Leavoy v. Election Board case. In that case, Leavoy contested Agricultural College Council presidential candidate Colorado Robertson’s ability to run for office because of an election-code violation. The court ruled Robertson could run.
Reid said he used the brief Leavoy wrote for that case as a guide.
“I wanted my brief to look professional,” Reid said. “I really admired it.”
Leavoy said he gave Reid his brief and that he offered Reid suggestions about what arguments to use in the new brief.
Leavoy said he “looked over Devin’s shoulder” while Reid was writing the brief, advising Reid on which arguments to use in the brief.
He said he told Reid to “keep all of these and don’t go with these arguments.”
Reid said that although he wanted to use Leavoy’s brief as a template, he did not ask Leavoy for suggestions about the content of the brief, but he said Leavoy “did offer suggestions.”
Danielle Wheeler, campaign manager for “Making It Happen,” confirmed that Leavoy is a “highly involved volunteer.”
Reid said he was aware that Leavoy campaigned with the “Making It Happen” ticket prior to asking for assistance.
Michelle Gieg, the “Making It Happen” presidential candidate, said she knew Leavoy was helping Reid with the brief but whether Magliolo runs does not distract from her ticket’s goals.
Heath Hattaway, the “In Focus” presidential candidate, said that despite any possible inappropriate actions, his ticket remains focused on “the real issues.”
Magliolo was running for University College for Advising and Counseling treasurer, but the court ruled he could not run because he failed to properly file his candidacy before the Feb.23 deadline.