Election Commission Penalizes Voith-Gadgil Campaign

The Election Commission announced early this morning that it would penalize Undergraduate Council (UC) presidential candidate John F. Voith's '07 campaign after reports surfaced that a staffer had contacted a member of opponent Magnus Grimeland's '07 campaign to suggest that Grimeland drop out of the race.

The penalty means that Voith and his running mate Tara Gadgil '07 will lose $80 from their war chest. Candidates are given $400 from the Election Commission (EC) to fund their campaigns.

The EC found that while Voith, Gadgil, and the highest-ranking member of their campaign staff did not know of the e-mail, it was sent by a "ranking representative of the campaign."

"Pursuant to section 6.7 in the official election rules, the commission has decided to assess a penalty of 10 points to the Voith-Gadgil campaign," Election Commission Chair Michael B. Love '08 wrote in an e-mail early this morning. "We feel this penalty is a fair penalty, appropriate to the infraction."

According to the official rules of the Election Commission, section 6.7 stipulates that the commission can assign penalties at their own discretion.

The commission spent over five hours last night interviewing those involved before assessing penalties.

"We tried to leave as much as possible [no] stone unturned," Love said in an interview.

A Voith campaign staffer sent an e-mail Thursday afternoon to a member of Grimeland's campaign asking Grimeland and running mate Thomas D. Hadfield '08 to drop out of the race and "join forces" against the third ticket, John S. Haddock '07 and Annie R. Riley '07.

In the e-mail, which was obtained Sunday night by The Crimson, the staffer wrote that if Grimeland and Hadfield dropped out, Voith and Gadgil would reimburse them for their campaign expenses, ensure that Grimeland be reinstated on the UC after a temporary expulsion, and promote the ideas they had proposed in the campaign.

But candidates for the UC's top two positions are reimbursed for all their expenses by the council. Grimeland had been expelled from the UC for unexcused absences but was reinstated at a meeting Friday night.

Gadgil said Sunday night that she and Voith were not aware of the e-mail before it was sent and did not endorse its contents.

-Check thecrimson.com for updates throughout the day.