MONTREAL — The divisive campaign at Concordia University over whether the student council should endorse the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel took an unexpected turn before the polls closed on the evening of Nov. 27, after three days of voting.

The ballots cast on that referendum question were sequestered on the order of the Concordia Student Union’s (CSU) chief electoral officer André-Marcel Baril a few hours before the polls were to close.

They were not counted, but rather “sealed and placed in a secure location” until an (unnamed) outside firm can offer a resolution that is “as objective as possible,” he stated on his CSU CEO Facebook page on Nov. 27.

Controversy has surrounded the question, the campaigns for and against it, and the way Baril himself has handled the matter.

The wording of the BDS question had been contested by both the “yes” and “no” committees, and three versions were presented to the more than 35,000 undergraduates eligible to vote between the start of the campaign on Nov. 11 and the opening of the polls on Nov. 25.

The final question was: “Do you approve of the CSU endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel?” It was one of eight referendum questions, and the only one not directly concerned with student affairs. This was also a byelection for vacant council seats.

“Over the past few days, I have been overwhelmed with complaints and issues relating to the conduct of both the ‘yes’ committee and the ‘no’ committee during and prior to the polling period. In addition, I have observed violations myself,” Baril stated on the Facebook page.

Given “the magnitude and complexity of the question being voted on, and the potential implications it could have on both Concordia and abroad,” Baril said he decided that the matter was too much for him to rule on alone.

The CSU’s legal representative recommended “an independent firm, which I have been told specializes in dealing with circumstances similar to what we are experiencing.

“Although I have not yet received a response from the firm, I anticipate that we will work together to reach a reasonable and fair decision on how best to move forward.”

Lauren Luz, a spokesperson for the “no” committee, told The CJN on Nov. 28 that she found the decision “very strange” and wonders about the fairness of the CSU choosing “a third party”, and why money should be spent this way.

“Everything is in the air now. We’re not sure if this is going to hurt or help us,” Luz said.

She said voting, which continued after Baril’s decision, was unusually heavy for a CSU byelection. “I heard it might have reached 3,000, which is amazing for Concordia. In the last byelection, only about 400 voted, which shows this is an issue that has to be discussed.”

The campaign had taken a dramatic turn on the day before the polls opened, late on the afternoon of Nov. 24, when an “emergency” meeting of the CSU judicial board was held at the request of the “no” committee, known as Concordians United Against BDS.

The committee contended that the question, in its second version, was illegal and unconstitutional, according to CSU rules, and asked that it be dropped. They also charged that Baril had acted improperly in changing the original wording of the question at the request of the “yes” committee.

Baril, however, proved that he had the authority to “edit” referendum questions and that he did so before the seven-day cutoff. 

At the “yes” committee’s insistence, Baril had modified the first question to include the addition of “until Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights,” and dropped the clause in the first version, which described the boycott as including “all academic and consumer ties with any institution or company that aids in Israel’s occupation of Palestine.”

With the final change, new, separate ballots for the BDS question had to be printed late that night.

The “no” committee was satisfied with the compromise, calling the final question “clear, neutral and fair.”

“Students who are not informed on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will now be voting on a question that does not contain any prejudicial statements,” Luz said at the time.

She was not so happy with some reaction to the amendment, pointing to a comment posted on the student newspaper The Link :

“The very influential Zionist lobby started its infamous pressuring, forcing the CSU to change the referendum question hours before the ballot vote. We shouldn’t cave in, we should resist their money and hypocrisy!!!!”

BDS Québec, a coalition that includes the large labour unions and the political party Québec solidaire, endorsed the “yes” campaign.

The Concordia Graduate Students’ Association voted to support BDS at its general assembly in January 2013.