UA election results thrown out; frosh to revote

A mistake by the group that runs elections biased the voting for Undergraduate Assembly and class of 2001 vice president. Election results for freshman Undergraduate Assembly representatives and the freshman class vice president were thrown out last night because of a mistake by the group that supervised the voting. Pandemonium rang through Houston Hall last night as the Nominations and Elections Committee announced that the elections would be conducted again next week. Two candidates -- one running for the UA and one running for the UA and the vice presidency -- filed charges against the NEC last night, accusing the committee of violating its Fair Practices Code by failing to include the candidates' statements in an advertisement in last Tuesday's Daily Pennsylvanian. "The fact is, it was a biased election," NEC Chairperson and College senior Chris LaVigne told the freshmen candidates crowded into the Ben Franklin Room. "There needs to be a new election." Many candidates greeted the NEC's announcement by yelling and cursing, with most complaining that the many days and nights they had spent campaigning had been wasted. Winners of the other class board offices, however, were tallied and announced as final. They are: College freshman Cameron Winton as class president, Wharton freshman David Peretz as treasurer, College freshmen Vanessa Freeman and Christopher Rooney as College representatives and Wharton freshman Nikhil Da Victoria Lobo as Wharton representative. The NEC also presented charges against three candidates who missed the deadline for submitting their expense forms outlining the money they spent on their campaigns. The committee voted to disqualify College freshmen Scott Case, Elizabeth Glazer and Kelly Tishler. "[The NEC] disqualified candidates for not abiding by the FPC," LaVigne said. "We have to hold ourselves to that exact same standard. When there's a biased election, we have to remedy it." Dates for the second round of elections have not yet been decided, but the NEC told the candidates they may take place next Friday. Candidates vehemently contested going through the campaign process again, with many saying they feared the freshman class would "take this as a joke" and fail to cast votes in the new election. Turn-out for the elections was "a little higher" than last year's, according to NEC Vice Chairperson for Elections Diane Casteel, a College senior. More than 30 percent of the freshman class showed up at the polls this week, as compared to the 20-25 percent who had voted in recent years. The two students whose candidates' statements were left out of the NEC's elections insert did not directly ask the NEC to rerun the election. Engineering freshman Theo LeCompte, who was running for the UA, asked the NEC to amend its policy next year and add a system that would ensure no candidates' statements are forgotten. "14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian were printed with the words 'No Statement' under my name," LeCompte said at the FPC hearing. College freshman Shirin Ghadessy, who was running for both the UA and Vice President, told the NEC she was "torn" about what the committee should do to remedy its mistake. "Part of me thinks it would be justified to re-elect the offices I was running for," Ghadessy said. "But I don't think it's fair to put everybody through that." One additional student filed a charge against the NEC that was later dropped. College freshman Eileen Munoz said her first name appeared as "Eilenn" on Tuesday's ballots, causing "people not to recognize it." The NEC rejected her charge. Several vocal students were frustrated at the length of the FPC hearing, which lasted about two hours. "We all have things to do, especially now -- campaigning again," one candidate complained.