EDITORIAL: Voters deserve more credit

After hours of deliberation, the NEC threw out the referendum on the Undergraduate Assembly budget, invoking an "elastic clause." If the referendum had passed, $30,000 allocated to a UA discretionary fund for Greek-sponsored events would have gone instead to events approved by the Student Activities Council. Though sources say it received enough votes to make it binding, the NEC supported InterFraternity Council President Josh Belinfante's claim that SAC's publicity consisted of "half-truths, extortions and dishonest statements." NEC Chairperson Chris LaVigne cited a clause of the Fair Practice Code for referenda that allows invalidation if "a violation was committed that unnecessarily biased the referenda and/or was a gross violation of the FPCR and/or the rules." While SAC's exaggerations about the degree to which membership groups would be affected was certainly unethical, NEC rules do not explicitly restrict what students may say in campaigning for or against a particular referendum. In fact, the FPCR places the entire burden of responsibility on the NEC, which "shall be responsible for presenting referenda to the University community in an unbiased fashion." Having failed in this duty is no reason to toss out the election -- especially when so many students show they feel strongly about this issue. If the NEC is going to view misleading publicity by interest groups a natural part of campus politics, it should do its part to clear up information for the benefit of voters. But if the group is going to rule on campaign practices, it should outline specific campaign guidelines. The University had not seen this many voters turn out for an election in years. We hope the NEC ruling won't discourage students from future involvement in campus politics.