Emory students Emma Friese ‘24C and Sruti Kumar ‘20Ox, 22C are suing Student Government Association’s (SGA) Board of Elections in a trial that threatens to unseat Noah Marchuck ‘24C as the next President of SGA.

The trial comes on the heels of a contentious and publicized election for SGA President and Vice President. Supporters of Elisabet Ortiz, who was disqualified from running because of her status as a gap year student, successfully rallied the student body to vote ‘No Confidence’ in the general elections.

However, because ‘No Confidence’ did not win an outright majority, a runoff election was held between ‘No Confidence’ and Alyssa Stegall ‘21Ox ‘23C, who finished second. ‘No Confidence’ then won an outright majority in the runoff.

Therefore, Marchuck, who successfully won his election for Vice President, will become President as a result of Article V Section 2 of the SGA Constitution, which lays out the Presidential line of succession.

Friese and Kumar are challenging the Election Board’s decision to hold a runoff election between Stegall and ‘No Confidence.’ They have brought their case before the Constitutional Council, the most powerful student court at Emory. In the petition, the two argued that the Board of Elections had overstepped its authority by holding the runoff election that will lead to Marchuck becoming president.

The two also criticized the legality of the appointment of Marchuck to fill the vacancy, stating that “there is no such precedent for using the Line of Succession to fill a vacancy resulting from a ‘No Confidence’ victory. Therefore, the Line of Succession cannot definitively be used to fill a Presidential vacancy for a ‘No Confidence’ win.”

In the petition, the two state that the elections board had no authority to interpret the SGA Constitution, and that they retroactively used the constitution to define what would happen if ‘No Confidence’ won.

The two also stated that their primary goal was “not to antagonize SGA” but to “direct the student body’s attention to this issue using a public forum and work together to create a better governing system here at Emory.”

The Constitutional Council will hear the case this Monday, April 11th in a trial open to the public on a Zoom Webinar. How the Constitutional Council chooses to interpret the case could have serious ramifications for the future of SGA leadership.

If the court rules in favor of Friese and Kumar, the court could also rule that the decision to have Marchuck assume the Presidency for the 2022-2023 term is illegal. If this occurred, the Constitutional Council would then have to decide how to fill the vacancy of the President-Elect.

This may mean calling another election, which would come during finals season. Friese and Kumar argued in court filings that “[the student body] cannot elect a new administration until major reform is underway.”

Regardless of the decision, the court case has thrown the future of SGA into disarray and frozen the government in place. With it unclear who will take over next year, Marchuck cannot make critical preparations until a decision is made. This has effectively delayed the Presidential transition.

The case also comes amidst pressing challenges at Emory, including rapidly rising tuition and a severe mental health crisis. With SGA paralyzed, they will be unable to work to address the needs of students until after the case has been decided. If the Constitutional Council rules that Marchuck will not be the next president, the work of SGA could be delayed for upwards of months.