NEC violations may doom UA reform plans

Eleven NEC violations alleged Illegal campaigning tactics may have doomed constitutional reform at the University -- regardless of the outcome of the past two days' voting. The Nominations and Elections Committee will rule on eight violations of the NEC's Fair Practices Code for Referenda at a hearing tonight -- and if any one of them is upheld, both constitutional reform proposals on the ballot will be considered invalid. Three violations of the NEC's FPC for Undergraduate Assembly elections were also filed with the NEC yesterday. According to Roy Fu, the NEC chair of elections and a College senior, the FPC for Referenda violations could invalidate both of the "A" referenda, which deal with constitutional reform of the University's student government. "We are trying to determine if [the violations] created bias during the election, not guilt," he said. "Most of these charges actually happened." Four of the eight charges were filed against supporters or authors of the A1 constitution, which would completely overturn the current structure of student government if passed. All four of the A1 charges were for campaigning within 75 feet of a polling place. Two charges were filed against supporters of A2. One was for campaigning within 75 feet of a polling place, and one was for removing posters put up by A1 supporters. UA chairperson and Wharton junior Dan Debicella was cited for campaigning within 75 feet of a polling place. Ironically, rather than advocating a specific proposal, Debicella's "campaign" consisted of simply telling students not to vote, Fu said. Engineering and Wharton senior Matt Kratter, former Student Committee on Undergraduate Education chairperson, was cited for illegal campaigning as well, Fu added. If any of these charges is found to have biased voters, neither A1 nor A2 can be considered valid, and the election will be thrown out. The FPC for Referenda specifies that any invalidated referendum cannot be voted upon again for 12 months. UA member and College senior Dan Schorr, the co-author of proposal A1, said he was worried that the charges might nullify the election. "For the first time in 23 years, students got to decide whether they wanted a new student government," he said. "It would be a travesty if they never got to voice their opinion." Several of the charges were filed with the NEC by College junior Michael Hartman. But Hartman refused to comment on the charges last night. According to Fu, the three charges filed against UA candidates could, if upheld by the NEC, eliminate the candidates from the race. College freshman Kathryn Assadi and Wharton junior Gil Beverly failed to turn in their campaign spending forms by the NEC deadline, Fu said. And College freshman Steve Schorr, a Daily Pennsylvanian sports writer, was charged with destroying another candidate's posters.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.