One UA candidate charged with campaign rule violation

Only one candidate for the Undergraduate Assembly was charged with a violation of the Nominations and Elections Committee's Fair Practice Code last night, according to NEC Chairperson of Elections Jim Strangio. College freshman and UA candidate Adam Strunk accused College sophomore Tamara Dubowitz of "having table tents with her campaign materials in Hill Dining within 75 feet of the polling location at Hill House," Strangio said last night. Strunk explained that Dubowitz had placed campaign placards on each table in the Hill Dining area. According to section 5f.1 of the Fair Practice Code, campaigning is not permitted within 75 feet of any poll while the polls are open In last year's election, 41 charges of FPC violations were filed with the NEC. The Coalition for Responsive Student Government -- a group of 20 students who ran for the UA on a common platform last year -- was the primary factor in last year's high number of charges, Strangio, an Engineering junior, said. "Last year was the really, really big exception," he added. "Usually there are very few charges, but not this few." In the fall 1992 election, there were 10 to 15 charges, which Strangio said were also "more than normal." He attributed the difference to the "really clean campaign" held this year. "To my knowledge, none of the other candidates violated the Fair Practice Code," Strangio said. "It was nice to see that we had such a clean campaign." He added that the FPC was changed in the last year to "loosen up" the poster policy. "I think that was part of the reason why there are almost no charges," he said. "It isn't mandatory to follow the poster policy anymore." NEC Chairperson and Wharton senior Sharon Dunn said she is pleased with the lower number of charges. "In the past two years, there's been an outrageous number of charges, but before that there were low numbers," she said. "Hopefully, [the lack of violations] is attributable to having the candidate's meeting, going over the rules and being available for questions." Strunk said last night Dubowitz's violation could have biased some voters eating at Hill. "The intent of having the restriction is so people will not be unfairly prejudiced in their voting," he said. "Anyone eating there could be influenced. "That was probably the general intent of placing the placards there and that's why I pressed the charge," he added. Though results of the election will not be available until after Thursday night's FPC hearing, Strangio said the election turnout was "very, very good considering the weather and the problems we experienced." On Monday, the NEC computers intermittingly stopped operating throughout the day because of the cold weather. As a result, certain polling places were closed for parts of the day. Strangio said the difficulties did not affect the number of voters. Dubowitz was unavailable for comment last night.