Kat Tiscornia sent a message in the Gamma Phi Beta GroupMe chat expressing her support for 2020 presidential candidate Thomas (Tommy) Hessel. She was the President of Gamma Phi Beta, Head of Social Media for the Hessel Campaign, and "owner" of the GroupMe chat. Candidate Silombria asserted that Tiscornia’s message violated §5 clause 2 of the Statute of Duke Student Government Establishing the Election Rules and Procedures for 2020. After Attorney General Markis ruled that no election violation occurred, candidate Silombria appealed the decision to the Judiciary. The Judiciary ruled that Attorney General John Markis was correct in his application of §5 clause 2 of the 2020 Election Statute. GroupMe does not function as a listserv and falls under §5 clause 4 of the 2020 Election Statute as a “social media platform.”
Duke OIT defines a listserv as “an electronic mailing list that offers an efficient way to disseminate information to large numbers of people using a single email address.” Listservs have the capability to restrict senders so that only the manager of the group can send messages to those in the group. The 2020 Election Statute prevents listserv managers from using this capability to influence elections. By contrast, a GroupMe chat is a non-email form of communication in which every group member can send messages to all other group members. Messages by GroupMe chat ‘owners’ are not privileged or highlighted. Thus, GroupMe chats are more consistent with the “social media platforms” explicitly authorized by §5 clause 4 of the 2020 Election Statute. The Judiciary’s conclusion is strengthened by the legislative history of the 2020 Election Statute. The original proposed statute included an explicit provision that named GroupMe chats in the definition of a listserv. The Senate chose to amend this provision and confine the language to the word “listserv.”
On March 5th, 2020 voting for the 2020 Duke Student Government presidential election opened, and Kat Tiscornia sent a message in the Gamma Phi Beta GroupMe chat supporting presidential candidate Tommy Hessel. The GroupMe contained 91 members of Gamma Phi Beta. On March 6th, 2020, presidential candidate Valeria Silombria filed a report of election irregularity with Attorney General John Markis. Candidate Silombria asserted that Tiscornia’s message violated §5 clause 2 and subsequently §2 clause 1 of the Statute of the 2020 Election Statute. She requested that the Hessel Campaign be docked 90 votes in accordance with §9 clause 5 of the 2020 Election Statute. Attorney General Markis ruled that no election violation occurred, ruling that GroupMe fell under §5 clause 4 of the 2020 Election Statute. He noted that Silombria’s petition misquoted the 2020 Election Statute, relying on an outdated version of the 2020 Election Statute that did not reflect the current version of §5 clause 2. Candidate Silombria appealed the decision to the Judiciary under §8 clause 10 of the Statute, further arguing GroupMe functions as a listserv and thus the Attorney General’s decision was not in accordance with the law.
Does a GroupMe chat function as a listserv for the purposes of §5 clause 2 of the 2020 Election Statute?
Attorney General John Markis was correct in his application of §5 clause 2 of the 2020 Election Statute. GroupMe does not function as a listserv for the purposes of §5 clause 2 of the 2020 Election Statute, falling instead under §5 clause 4 as a “social media platform.”