By Amira Benjamin & Shumaila Mubarak

14 rulings have been issued by the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) chief returning officer (CRO), resulting in 74 demerit points across various slates. 

The CRO has allegedly received at least 50 complaints, including breaches of the Elections Procedures Code (EPC). The CRO has only publicly released 14 of these complaints on the election website as of publication.

Though the voting period for the by-election has concluded, the office of the CRO has delayed the results indefinitely, as previously reported by The Eyeopener. 

These are all the rulings:

Ruling #FBE2025-01

A complaint was received regarding a candidate allegedly sharing a promotional message for their slate in a group chat during the nomination period. Upon investigation, the candidate was found to have committed a minor violation and was issued a formal educational warning.

According to the Section 6 of the EPC, candidates are permitted to share nomination links for the purpose of collecting signatures but they are prohibited under Section 8.1.1 (Pre-Campaigning) from sharing any messages that promote a candidacy or references a slate before the official campaigning period.

Ruling #FBE2025-02

A complaint was received accusing a candidate of allegedly offering monetary incentives for votes during the campaign period. The CRO conducted a formal review under the EPC to verify the conversations.

The conduct was found to violate sections Sections 8.1.10 (Community Standards), 8.1.15 (Malicious or Intentional Breach), and 8.1.17 (Attempt to Undermine the Electoral Procedure) of the EPC. 

The candidate was given 35 demerit points. 

Ruling #FBE2025-03

A complaint was alleging that an Instagram account associated with a candidate used a slate name in the display name field prior to the campaigning period. Upon review the CRO found no campaign content and no dissemination of information. The only change to the account was an administrative update to the display name which did not meet the threshold for pre-campaigning under Section 8.1.1 of the EPC. 

Therefore no violation was found and the complaint was dismissed. 

Ruling #FBE2025-04

A complaint was filed regarding two Instagram story posts alleging that the posts referenced the MNP Interim Report. The complaint said the posts violated the digital posting procedure under the EPC and constituted misrepresentation of facts and defamation. 

Upon investigation, the CRO found that the first story did not include the required election hashtag which was a technical breach of the digital posting rules. The issue was corrected immediately. 

Later the statements in the posts were also assessed and were ruled as political commentary on a publicly available report and did not target any candidate or non-arm’s length party. 

A warning was issued to the digital posting procedure but no demerit points were assigned. All other allegations were dismissed.  

Ruling #FBE2025-05

A complaint was filed about a candidate who continued performing their duties as a TMSU staff position during the campaign period.

The CRO confirmed the candidate was active in their role as a staff member during the start of the campaign period, with information by the TMSU administration. Section 8.1.2. of the ERC states that members of the union, including part-time staff, “must not act in their employment or volunteer capacity during the Campaign Period and Voting Period.”

Ruling #FBE2025-06

One executive candidate was not found to be a registered student after the university revalidated all candidates against all current registration lists as part of the ballot preparation. 

Under EPC Section 8.3.8.1 all candidates are required to be registered students for TMSU Membership and candidate eligibility. 

Upon review the CRO confirmed that the candidate did not meet membership requirements under by-law 2 and EPC Section 5.3.1. 

This resulted in the automatic disqualification of the candidate. 

Ruling #FBE2025-07

Another executive candidate was not found to be a registered student after the university revalidated all candidates against all current registration lists as part of the ballot preparation.

Under EPC Section 8.3.8.1 all candidates are required to be registered students for TMSU membership and candidate eligibility. 

Upon review, the CRO confirmed the candidate did not meet membership requirements under by-law 2 and EPC Section 5.3.1. which resulted in the automatic disqualification of the candidate. 

Ruling #FBE2025-08

The CRO launched a complaint observing prohibited campaigning by a candidate during the voting period. The CRO found the candidate distributed promotional campaign materials during the voting period, violating Sections 8.1.10 and s.8.1.17.

The CRO issued eight demerit points and the candidate ceased campaigning for the rest of the voting period.

Ruling #FBE2025-09

The CRO launched a review after finding two Instagram campaign videos were posted without CRO approval or the CRO-approval tag. The posted videos in violation of EPC Sections 8.1.4, 8.1.38, and 8.1.16. 

The CRO issued five demerit points and the materials were removed after CRO direction.

Ruling #FBE-2025-010

A complaint was issued against a candidate referencing a “Napping Initiative” during the Executive Candidates Forum that appeared in another slate’s campaign materials. The statement was made during the respondent’s five-minute platform presentation. 

Under the EPC, verbal statements made during a live, moderated platform don’t constitute physical or digital campaign materials and are not subjected to pre-approval requirements. 

Upon review, the CRO determined there was no evidence of misrepresentation, sabotage or improper use of another slate’s campaign materials. Therefore, the complaint was dismissed. 

Ruling #FBE2025-011

A complaint was submitted alleging that prior to the campaigning period a candidate engaged in pre-campigning, cross-campigning and improper volunteer recruitment.

Upon review by the CRO, it was determined that the verified screenshots and full screen-recordings did not violate the EPC. The messages in the screenshots showed general discussion about future camping plains and individuals considering running but it did not violate any of the regulation election policy definitions or the election timeline. 

The complaint was later dismissed. 

Ruling #FBE2025-012

A complaint was filed regarding posters displayed at the Ted Rogers School of Management without the required Ted Rogers Students’ Society building stamp. 

Upon further investigation, the CRO found a technical violation under EPC Section 8.1.7.

A formal warning was issued but no demerits points were assigned. 

Ruling #FBE2025-013

A complaint was filed alleging that a Team Forward poster was removed and replaced with the respondent’s poster. 

Upon review, the complaint was dismissed as no violation was found under EPC Sections 8.1.23, or 8.3.6 since the evidence did not establish responsibility for the removal. 

Ruling #FBE2025-014

The CRO reviewed a complaint for candidate conduct in a public Discord server and found violations of Sections 8.1.10 and 8.1.13. 

The CRO issued 11 demerit points.