PALS AT THE POLLS

People in this vicinity would probably like to know the real situation behind the Committee for Electoral Reform. It may be either a group of sincere men who honestly believe that the Senior Class method of nominations is unbearable, or a conspiracy to rectify the fact that some of its friends were not elected and to nominate more and other friends.

If the Committee is honest, then it is not the only body which in the past has found fault with the system of nominations. The complaint is old that the Student Council chooses a Nominating Committee with which it has intimate connections, and that this Committee satisfies the Council by, in turn, nominating it for the class officers. Despite doubts about the intentions of the Committee for Electoral Reform, its objection to the lack of publicity given the Senior Constitution, against which 133 Seniors voted, is certainly valid.

Three reasons give weight to the belief that the Committee is merely an angry and jealous minority. First a Senior Class convention, especially if held in the New Lecture Hall on a warm day in April, can easily kindle a stingaree of a riot. More important is the fact that a Convention will undoubtedly lead to every conceivable kind of politics, vote-staggering, filibustering, and what not. Second, the Committee's idea of protesting an election in which the winners win by a slight margin is an example of sorehead thinking. Any man who permits his name to appear on a ballot must be ready to except the consequence of losing by 50, 5, or 2 votes. An election cannot be repeated anymore than a horse race. Third, the Committee questions the worth of petitions by holding that the system is "obviously discriminatory" against those put up by petition, since such nominees appear to be "self-seekers." Election results over the last few years have proved this a false complaint, particularly the Council elections in 1937.

Whether the Committee is sincere or not will be decided by the Seniors who are being approached and asked to sign its petition. In any case, enough of the Committee's platform is so untenable as to make the casual observer doubt any significant outcome.