Election Commission Praised for Oversight

Effective supervision on the part of the Undergraduate Council's Election Commission helped ensure that this year's race ran considerably smoother than in years past, candidates said.

The stepped-up oversight, candidates said, contrasted with the commission's poor record keeping last year, which led to controversy surrounding alleged election improprieties committed by council Vice President John A. Burton '01.

"Everything was done better," said presidential candidate Justin A. Barkley '02. "It was fair; it was good; it was far better than last year."

In nightly meetings this year, the commissioners--three students who are appointed from the council and three who are appointed from outside the council--met to discuss alleged violations and spending policies. Commission members policed campaign events that might draw violations, including a pizza party thrown Wednesday night by Stephen N. Smith '02 after complaints it might violate election rules.

"They did their job very well," Todd E. Plants '01 said. Plants was a presidential candidate last year and managed the successful campaign of Paul A. Gusmorino '02 this year.

"They were fair and responsive, perhaps even a little tougher than they needed to be," he said.

The only major incident of the campaign occurred last week when the Election Commission ordered candidate B.J. Averell '02 to shut down his campaign operation because of postering violations.

The commission first ordered Averell to cease spending money, and the next day ordered him to cease all campaigning because of additional violations.

The commission sets strict guidelines about where candidates can poster and how many posters a candidate can put up.

Candidates are each given 50 points at the beginning of the race. Points for violations are deducted from that total, and a candidate who receives 50 or more demerits is disqualified.

Averell had 49 points deducted, forcing him over his spending limit. For every one point deducted, a candidate loses one dollar in spending. For every 10 points lost, a candidate loses an additional $10 in spending.

All other candidates also got docked points for postering violations, although most lost less than six points.

One point on controversy arose, however, when vice presidential candidate John F. Bash '03 alerted the commission to several violations committed by other candidates.

"In the first week, I received as many [reports] from him as from all others combined," Election Commission Chair Kyle D. Hawkins '02 said.

Bash declined to comment on the issue.

Averell said he appreciated the way the commission handled so many allegations.

"The [commission] dealt well with the innumerable reports of 'violations' from certain vindictive candidates who cared more about their own political ambitions than the students of this University," Averell said.

In another contrast to last year, the candidates used fewer financial resources, concentrating more on "freely available resources"--those materials, such as cardboard and condoms, which the commission decides are available free to all undergraduates.

When the campaign ended last Friday, most candidates had only spent $70 of their $100 limit.

In contrast, last year, allegations of campaign finance improprieties by Fentrice D. Driskell '01 and John A. Burton '01 led to Burton's impeachment by the council early this year. Fellow candidates alleged that the pair had overspent its budget.