Election grievance committee rules in favor of Moskowitz

Former Student Member of the Board (SMOB) candidate junior Will Bucher was denied his election grievance against SMOB-elect Ben Moskowitz, the four-member student grievance committee announced today.

The committee ruled that Bucher did not prove Moskowitz had violated any campaign rules or regulations, and denied Bucher's requested remedies. The committee, headed by Seneca Valley senior Caroline Rodriguez, considered all of the written and oral evidence provided by the parties and reached a unanimous decision.

Moskowitz said he felt vindicated by the ruling and is looking ahead. "I'm happy that it was a unanimous decision and I hope I can now dedicate my time in the rest of June to getting ready to take office," he said.

Bucher, who declined to comment on the specifics of the decision because he had not seen the official ruling, stated that, in regards to the election's outcome, "the students of Montgomery County [are] the real losers."

Additional grievances originally filed against MCPS Student Affairs director Karen Crawford and the SGA president of Cabin John Middle School were dropped during the hearing on Monday.

Editor's Note: In light of the controversy surrounding Will Bucher's quote, the entirety of his statement is reprinted below.

"Whatever was the decision of the committee, it is my sincere hope that the rights of the Students of Montgomery County to vote based on complete true and accurate candidate information were preserved and strengthened. As I stated in the hearing it is my belief that that was not true in this election, and that my opponent was permitted to directly benefit by linking his campaign Facebook group to groups dedicated solely to spreading lies and disinformation about my candidacy. Hopefully, at the very least, the committee mandated that new rules will be mandated that prevent from happening again what occurred in this election, in which I believe the students of Montgomery County were the real losers."