Fraud roils UH election

The saga, rife with accusations of judicial bias, romantic rebuffs and blackmail, has played out like a stormy soap opera.

It has featured charges and counter-charges, hearings that lasted well past midnight, allegations of journalistic vendettas and even a contentious appearance by former Houston City Councilwoman Jolanda Jones.

At the center of the turmoil: claims of election fraud in the University of Houston's Student Government Association races.

President-elect Michael McHugh, Vice President-elect Mohammed Aijaz and senators-elect Laxmi Ramana and Brandon Balwant were accused of collecting student ID numbers, birthdays and names through a fake petition, then using that information to cast votes for McHugh and Aijaz without the students' knowledge.

Disqualified

A student government Court of Appeals on Wednesday found McHugh, Balwant and Ramana guilty of election fraud and disqualified the three from office. Aijaz, who was not found guilty, also was disqualified because he was on a joint ticket with McHugh.

"I speak for the court when I say that we delivered this judgement with heavy hearts," Chief Justice Taylor Kilroy said in an email announcing the court decision. "It is truly regrettable to discover that fellow students aspiring to represent the student body succumbed to these temptations."

McHugh and the other candidates could not be reached for comment.

Complaints about irregularities surfaced when a sophomore tried to vote online and discovered that a vote in her name had already been cast. Three weeks after the general election period, which ended March 2, a formal complaint was filed with the SGA election commission.

On March 21, the commission disqualified the four candidates, all part of the same slate, after finding evidence of election fraud. The candidates, who have denied the charges, challenged the decision in the student Court of Appeals.

That led to a five-hour-long hearing Monday that unfolded with a volley of accusations on both sides.

Romance to blame?

According to The Daily Cougar, the UH newspaper, the hearing included a confession from another candidate on the same slate, who admitted helping place fraudulent votes at the request of one of the accused students and charges from the embattled candidates, who said the whistleblower was motivated by a romantic rejection and a previous relationship with a Daily Cougar staff member looking for a "good story."

Although the students had chosen Cameron McHugh, Michael McHugh's brother and also a UH student, to represent them in the hearing, Jones tried to argue with the court, Kilroy said.

At the hearing, Cameron McHugh maintained that the election commission had filed the disqualification past the deadline for complaints, and said the charges "were both meritless, thoughtless and were in direct violation of the election code."

The court of appeals agreed the election commission had violated procedures, but still found that McHugh, Balwant and Ramana had participated in election fraud.

The second-place finishers will assume the vacant positions, the court ruled.

The disqualified students also face possible disciplinary action that could include verbal reprimands, academic probation, suspension or expulsion.

monica.rhor@chron.com