According to the complaint, Zeidan should not have been eligible to run because he will not be on campus for the full academic year. The complaint refers to a section of the AAS Constitution which states that students may seek candidacy for class positions, provided that they will be on campus for the term in which they are running (Article V, Section E, Clause 1). It was argued that the section held Zeidan ineligible for the presidency, insofar that he would not be on campus for the entirety of his term, which for the office of the Executive is one academic year.
Chair of the Elections Committee Jonathan Borowsky '07 pointed out, however, that the Constitution treated all-campus positions, such as those of the Executive Board, differently from class positions. The Constitution is unclear as to whether or not the same candidacy restrictions apply to all-campus positions.
The complaint also questioned Zeidan's class standing. According to the Constitution, "students who are between class years, designated by the letter 'E' following their class year, shall vote with their current class standing" (Article V, Section E, Clause 3). If it was held that Zeidan is a senior this year, he would be ineligible to run for the presidency or even vote in the elections. There is no sure precedent for the treatment of Es. For RoomDraw, Es are given the same LUV score as the class with which they matriculated.
Zeidan pointed out, however, that he was required to run as a 2008 class senator upon his return to campus and that he could not participate in the Commencement ceremony with the Class of 2007.
The JC was unable to come to a consensus regarding the status of Es before they entered into closed deliberations. Ultimately, they decided three to one in favor of allowing Zeidan to run for the presidency.