In March Alex Castro was elected by an overwhelming majority to the position of International Students Officer. He was then informed that he had been disqualified because of an argument between one of his supporters and another candidate. He was reinstated by a democratically elected Appeals Committee because there was no evidence against him and because the disqualification was grossly disproportionate to the alleged offence anyway. But then an "independent" third party was called in, who completely ignored these factors, ruling that because the Returning Officer had issued him a written warning before disqualifying him, he was rightly disqualified. No questions were asked about the lack of evidence, and none about the proportionality of the alleged offence. The reasons for the appeal to the "Independent" Third Party weren't even made known. Alex Castro was voted in as International Students Officer with more votes than the other three candidates put together. We are calling for the democratic decision of the membership (not the decision of merely two people) to be upheld: Defend Alex Castro! Defend Democracy at UMSU!