By Jerry Zhang
Team Reform Now and Team Reborn have been disqualified from the 2025 Toronto Metropolitan University Students’ Union (TMSU) general election with 218 and 85 demerit points respectively, issued across eight and five rulings by the Chief Returning Officer (CRO), including three shared rulings involving both slates.
The rulings were posted to the TMSU Elections page at 5:28 p.m. on Wednesday and cited various breaches of the Elections Procedures Code (EPC).
Under section 8.3.8.4. of the EPC, slates assigned more than 35 demerit points are automatically disqualified from the election. Team Reform Now has nearly six times the points fit for disqualification.
The majority of these penalties against Team Reform Now come from Ruling #29, which assigned them 148 demerit points listed in section 8.3.7.2 and 8.3.7.3 of the EPC. The ruling cited that a candidate allegedly distributed defamatory material against Team Re-Elect inside the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) library.
According to CRO Tatiana Carrion, the incident was confirmed following an investigation by TMU security services as detailed in Ruling #29.
The ruling alleges that the candidate distributed posters unapproved by the EPC across several floors of the library. The posters allegedly imitated Team Re-Elect’s official branding and feature inappropriate racist and inflammatory phrasing and symbols.
“The security camera footage shows that on March 10, 2025…an individual who appears to be a candidate with Team Reform…is seen entering Kerr Hall,” stated the ruling. “TMU’s security services confirmed that based on swipe card data, the card of the person who entered Kerr Hall South at that time belonged to the Candidate.”
In the ruling, the CRO described the alleged incident as “egregious” and determined it to include violations related to hate speech, defamation and misrepresentation
In Ruling #10, an additional 10 demerit points were issued to Team Reform Now for campaigning inside the Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre (SLC) without required volunteer badges. According to the CRO, Javaid Paracha—an executive Candidate of Team Reform Now—and a volunteer were seen inside the SLC asking students for votes.
The ruling cites that Team Reform Now violated section 8.1.30.6. of the EPC, which states that no campaigning is permitted in “Other spaces as determined by the CRO or ERC.”
No demerit points were issued to Team Re-Elect for the same violation of campaigning in the SLC, as previously reported by The Eyeopener.
The CRO also assigned 25 demerit points each to Team Reform Now and Team Reborn for cross-campaigning with one another in Ruling #12. The ruling cited video evidence showing volunteers affiliated with Team Reform Now encouraging students to vote for both slates.
The ruling states that when asked whether the slates were separate, the volunteer responded they were one team, violating sections 8.3.7.2 and 8.3.7.3 of the EPC for unauthorized cross-campaigning within TMSU Elections, intentional misrepresentation of facts and malicious or intentional violation of the code.
Additionally, 50 demerit points were issued across Ruling #21 and #22, with 30 points assigned to Team Reform Now and 20 points to Team Reborn. The rulings found that a graduate student—who was ineligible to volunteer under EPC section 8.3.7.2. Violation – Campaigning—had campaigned for both slates. The individual was recorded getting votes inside campus computer labs and prayer rooms.
The incident violated section 8.1.41 of the EPC, according to Carrion, which limits the campaign to TMSU members. The ruling also cited a breach of section 8.1.43, as both slates appeared to benefit from the same Non-Arm’s Party. Additionally, campaigning in restricted locations is a violation of section 8.1.30.3 of the EPC.
Team Reborn was also penalized in two additional rulings, Ruling #18 and Ruling #24 which assigned a total of 40 demerit points.
In Ruling #18, a Team Reborn volunteer—cited as Rahman in the ruling—was described as recording campaigning inside a computer lab and allegedly assisting students in accessing voting portals. The individual was seen with one phone displaying a QR code and another with the TMSU election ballot, according to the rulings.
The CRO determined this breached sections 8.1.30.3, 8.1.36.2 and 9.1.3 of the EPC for campaigning in unauthorized areas, using unapproved campaign materials and accessing student’s voting portals. The slate was issued 20 demerits as a result.
The same volunteer was recorded allegedly threatening a student who attempted to film during campaigning as explained in Ruling #24. The video allegedly shows the volunteer pushing the student’s phone and verbally threatening them.
The ruling states, “The evidence clearly shows Rahman’s aggressive behaviour; him trying to get physical and verbally threatening.” The CRO found this violated section 8.1.9 of the EPC regarding community standards and issued 20 demerit points to Team Reborn.
In Ruling #23, another five points were assigned to Team Reform Now due to use of hateful language against community standards, including derogatory, racial and misogynistic language during verbal altercations between members of Team Reform Now and other teams such as Team Re-Elect.
While multiple complaints were filed against Team Reform Now alleging the use of slurs and hateful language, only one claim was sustained.
The CRO stated that “Team Reform and its members were accused of “cussing out” one of the complainants and were witnessed with inappropriate behaviour,” constituting a violation of section 8.1.9 for actions against the community.
Two additional rulings, #11 and #19, were dismissed with no demerit point assigned due to issues with procedural timeline issues and insufficient evidence.
Ruling #11 alleged that campaigners from Team Reform Now were influencing voters outside of Kerr Hall, allegedly by looking into people’s phones as they voted.
Ruling #19 cited that Paracha was accused of campaigning during an iftar event hosted by campus groups. The CRO ultimately dropped the case due to a lack of “sufficient information of an EPC violation for a specific candidate.”
The TMSU has not yet addressed the disqualifications in a public statement due to the 48-hour appeal period as cited in section 10.4.2 of the EPC.
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