Council Holds Re-Vote For Posts

Accusations of ballot tampering leveled against the new Undergraduate Council vice chair culminated last night in an unprecedented re-vote for two senior posts conducted by Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57.

Council members Marc D. McKay '94 and Spyros Poulios '95 were elected social committee co-chairs in a special meeting last night. In the first vote, on Wednesday, former committee chair Tree F. Loong '94 and member Danielle D. Do '93 were declared winners.

The original vote, conducted by council Vice Chair Maya G. Prabhu '94, was contested by McKay and Poulios. Poulios charged that Prabhu rigged the vote, possibly altering bal- lots and discarding the evidence afterwards.

The re-vote, conducted by Jewett at the requestof Council Chair Malcolm A. Heinicke '93, followeda volley of charges and countercharges betweenPrabhu and Poulios. Heinicke last night appointeda special committee to investigate the contestedelection and prepare a report.

In interviews last night, Jewett urged thecouncil to improve its elections procedure, andHeinicke said election reform would be considered.

"I think that there quite clearly should be,and I've said this to the council, a process setup to handle elections which would prevent thiskind of thing," Jewett said. "One of the problems,I think, is that the ballots that were used weretorn slips of paper. There ought to be an officialballot, and the counting ought to be done withobservers."

The incident marked the second time this yearthat council elections have come under scrutiny.Last week, council officials disclosed theapparent theft of several ballots cast duringcampus-wide council elections.

Senior council members agreed that the episodereflects poorly on the student government, whichis already struggling to improve its image.

Neither Jewett nor Heinicke would release thefinal tally of last night's vote. Prabhu said thecommittee originally voted 7-6 in favor of Do andLoong on Wednesday.

But Jewett said 17 ballots were recovered afterthe vote. He said he attempted unsuccessfully tohave all 13 committee members identify theirballots. The dean said he did not know where theadditional ballots came from.

"Something seems to be wrong," Jewett said."There clearly has been some irregularity. Thereare a number of ways it could have happened."

Prabhu, a Dunster representative, stronglydenied any wrongdoing and said she stands by theaccuracy of her original count.

"I absolutely stand by my counting of theballots yesterday," Prabhu said. "I was given 13ballots and I believe that I counted the ones thatI had correctly...I'm not sure how to account forthe discrepancies."

"I regret not having someone else there tosubstantiate my story," she added.

Veteran council members Steven N. Kalkanis '93,David L. Duncan '93, Michael P. Beys '94 and BenM. Unger '94 are on the committee investigatingthe incident, council officials said. They willlikely report their findings to the full councilSunday.

Poulios, who says he is convinced that Prabhurigged the election, said he will present evidenceagainst Prabhu this weekend. The Matherrepresentative said he may call for Prabhu'simpeachment.

"All of these options are under considerationright now," he said. "I am absolutely convincedthat there has been wrongdoing on Maya's part andI will bring up every evidence in my possessionsoon to the public."

But Prabhu said it was Poulios who had actedinappropriately, charging him with aggressive andthreatening behavior after the original voteWednesday.

"He was extremely hostile, verbally aggressiveand his physical demeanor was intimidating,"Prabhu said. "He was very loud and very abusiveand frankly he frightened everyone in the room."

Poulios dismissed the complaint. "Maya'sallegations and accusations are nowhere near thecore of the case, and where the wrongdoing hasbeen taking place," he said.

But Prabhu's account was corroborated byanother council member present at the meeting.

"You can never tell with a person when they'revery animated what they're likely to do, but I wasworried that something might happen," said thecouncil member, who spoke on condition ofanonymity. "His anger was kind of scary...Certainthings were said that implied that physical harmcould come to Maya."

McKay, Poulios' running mate for co-chair,agreed that Poulios' behavior was improper.

"I don't think Spyros conducted himself in theproper manner," McKay said. "I think he could havebeen a little more calm."

In addition, several members of the councillast night vigorously defended Prabhu.

"It's garbage," said newly elected TreasurerCarey W. Gabay '94. "It's complete nonsense toaccuse one of the most upstanding and reformmindedpersons on the council of fixing the election."

"Anyone who knows her would know that thecharges against her are bull," Gabay added."Furthermore, she had nothing to gain by thevictory of either candidate."

Council member Gordon M. Fauth '93, chair ofthe Dudley House committee, said some membersmight have changed their votes before last night'sre-vote.

"Voting has always been problematic [at thecouncil]," Fauth said. "Every time there's arecount called on anything at all, enough peoplechange their minds so that everything isdifferent. It's one of the things that's alwaysdisgusted me.

The re-vote, conducted by Jewett at the requestof Council Chair Malcolm A. Heinicke '93, followeda volley of charges and countercharges betweenPrabhu and Poulios. Heinicke last night appointeda special committee to investigate the contestedelection and prepare a report.

In interviews last night, Jewett urged thecouncil to improve its elections procedure, andHeinicke said election reform would be considered.

"I think that there quite clearly should be,and I've said this to the council, a process setup to handle elections which would prevent thiskind of thing," Jewett said. "One of the problems,I think, is that the ballots that were used weretorn slips of paper. There ought to be an officialballot, and the counting ought to be done withobservers."

The incident marked the second time this yearthat council elections have come under scrutiny.Last week, council officials disclosed theapparent theft of several ballots cast duringcampus-wide council elections.

Senior council members agreed that the episodereflects poorly on the student government, whichis already struggling to improve its image.

Neither Jewett nor Heinicke would release thefinal tally of last night's vote. Prabhu said thecommittee originally voted 7-6 in favor of Do andLoong on Wednesday.

But Jewett said 17 ballots were recovered afterthe vote. He said he attempted unsuccessfully tohave all 13 committee members identify theirballots. The dean said he did not know where theadditional ballots came from.

"Something seems to be wrong," Jewett said."There clearly has been some irregularity. Thereare a number of ways it could have happened."

Prabhu, a Dunster representative, stronglydenied any wrongdoing and said she stands by theaccuracy of her original count.

"I absolutely stand by my counting of theballots yesterday," Prabhu said. "I was given 13ballots and I believe that I counted the ones thatI had correctly...I'm not sure how to account forthe discrepancies."

"I regret not having someone else there tosubstantiate my story," she added.

Veteran council members Steven N. Kalkanis '93,David L. Duncan '93, Michael P. Beys '94 and BenM. Unger '94 are on the committee investigatingthe incident, council officials said. They willlikely report their findings to the full councilSunday.

Poulios, who says he is convinced that Prabhurigged the election, said he will present evidenceagainst Prabhu this weekend. The Matherrepresentative said he may call for Prabhu'simpeachment.

"All of these options are under considerationright now," he said. "I am absolutely convincedthat there has been wrongdoing on Maya's part andI will bring up every evidence in my possessionsoon to the public."

But Prabhu said it was Poulios who had actedinappropriately, charging him with aggressive andthreatening behavior after the original voteWednesday.

"He was extremely hostile, verbally aggressiveand his physical demeanor was intimidating,"Prabhu said. "He was very loud and very abusiveand frankly he frightened everyone in the room."

Poulios dismissed the complaint. "Maya'sallegations and accusations are nowhere near thecore of the case, and where the wrongdoing hasbeen taking place," he said.

But Prabhu's account was corroborated byanother council member present at the meeting.

"You can never tell with a person when they'revery animated what they're likely to do, but I wasworried that something might happen," said thecouncil member, who spoke on condition ofanonymity. "His anger was kind of scary...Certainthings were said that implied that physical harmcould come to Maya."

McKay, Poulios' running mate for co-chair,agreed that Poulios' behavior was improper.

"I don't think Spyros conducted himself in theproper manner," McKay said. "I think he could havebeen a little more calm."

In addition, several members of the councillast night vigorously defended Prabhu.

"It's garbage," said newly elected TreasurerCarey W. Gabay '94. "It's complete nonsense toaccuse one of the most upstanding and reformmindedpersons on the council of fixing the election."

"Anyone who knows her would know that thecharges against her are bull," Gabay added."Furthermore, she had nothing to gain by thevictory of either candidate."

Council member Gordon M. Fauth '93, chair ofthe Dudley House committee, said some membersmight have changed their votes before last night'sre-vote.

"Voting has always been problematic [at thecouncil]," Fauth said. "Every time there's arecount called on anything at all, enough peoplechange their minds so that everything isdifferent. It's one of the things that's alwaysdisgusted me.