The Student Council Rules and Ethics Board rejected an appeal yesterday filed by Council presidential candidate Daisy Lundy, who claimed that she was unfairly penalized for campaign violations in last week's election.
Last Thursday night the Election Committee deducted 2 percent of Lundy's vote total because of illegal campaigning on her behalf in first year dorms.
The decision, coupled with the election committee's interpretation of by-law rules, which also was appealed, led to a margin of victory for Lundy slim enough to force a run-off election.
Polls opened this morning at 8 for the run-off, and will remain open until tomorrow night at 8.
The four-member board deliberated for over an hour before ultimately upholding the decision of the election committee. The board also recommended a review of election procedures in order to ensure rules are equally applied to all candidates. Board Chair Robin Short said she could not disclose the numbers of the board's vote.
The ruling, read by Short, stated the First Year Council had been found in violation of spring election rules forbidding dormitory campaigning by soliciting votes from students in on Grounds housing. The board also declared it was the responsibility of candidates seeking office to inform supporters and endorsing organizations of the election rules.
The board ruled that, as the violation was confirmed after the polls closed and campaigning had ended, other punitive measures were unavailable and the committee's decision was justified.
First Year Council President Noah Sullivan said, however, the application of the election rules by the committee was inconsistent. Though six other names also appeared on the flier, Lundy was the only one to be cited for a violation, he said.
"The violation obviously then was not enough to dock everyone, and therefore not serious enough to dock anyone," Sullivan said before the board.
Election Committee Chair Julie Teater said the other candidates listed on the fliers were not penalized because the violation was their first infraction, which would only result in a warning that would not have affected the outcomes of their races.
Lundy, on the other hand, had accumulated three previous violations including posting too many flyers on bulletin boards and chalking on brick in front of the Commerce School, Teater said. These violations resulted in warnings and an e-mail from Teater telling Lundy a subsequent violation would result in either a reduction in her allowed campaign expenditures or a docking of her votes.
Only made aware on election night of Lundy's dormitory campaigning violation, Teater said the only way to penalize Lundy was through deducting votes from her total.
The board's verdict elicited a negative response from many students on hand for the proceedings. Fourth-year College student Tim Lovelace, the student representative to the Board of Visitors, immediately raised vocal objections to the validity of the decision and criticized members of the board.
At the hearing, Lundy also expressed concern about persons other than the current voting administrator logging into the voter database. Teater said two former voting administrators who created the database logged in while the polls were still open in order to ensure the site was working properly.
Lundy supporters also argued that Council does not make copies of the election rules readily available, leading to confusion among organizations attempting to support candidates. Presently, the election rules for the Fall 2002 races, which do not include the ban on dormitory campaigning, are posted on the Council Web site.
University Democrats President Ian Amelkin, who is overseeing Lundy's campaign efforts, said the onus of supplying the rules to endorsing organizations should rest with Council and not individual candidates.
"Student Council is assuming knowledge of the rules, which it probably does because they know the rules," Amelkin said.
Amelkin said Lundy will prevail despite the unfairness her campaign has encountered and the alleged attempts to "circumnavigate the system" by those opposed to her candidacy.
Lundy said the results of yesterday's hearing showed the need for Council reform.
"I hope it would encourage all students to be involved in the election process more, look more critically at what transpired and uphold the ideals of student self-governance and honor," Lundy said.
After the hearing, Teater acknowledged that changes in election procedure are needed.
After her first appeal failed, Lundy withdrew her second appeal, which contested the Election Committee's interpretation of how a 5 percent margin of victory should be determined.
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