NEC decision to invalidate ballot raises controversy

Voter turnout for the referdum on student activity funding was unusually high. The group that runs student government elections is under fire for throwing out the results of a controversial referendum on which 33 percent of undergraduates -- an unusually high turnout -- voted last week, with a majority approving the measure. Last Thursday, the Nominations and Elections Committee invalidated the referendum, which was aimed at reversing the Undergraduate Assembly's decision to set aside $30,000 for funding of InterFraternity Council events, on the basis that a Student Activities Council campaign used distortions and half-truths to bias students' votes in favor of the measure. Yesterday, however, NEC Chairperson Chris LaVigne, a College senior, said the actions of the nine-member SAC executive board did not actually violate any specific section of the Fair Practices Code for Referenda, the rules which govern referenda. Instead, he said that Section VII, Clause H of the document -- which allows for referenda to be invalidated if a violation occurs that "unnecessarily biased the referenda and/or was a gross violation of the FPCR and/or the rules" -- functions as an "elastic clause" by which many actions can be considered violations. In addition, one of the referendum's authors, College senior Elizabeth Scanlon, said the motion's sponsors are considering introducing another referendum to be voted on in a separate election. The referendum would either be the same as the old one or would ask students to vote to overturn the NEC's decision, a move that would only be possible if the motion had passed in last week's elections. Sources close to Penn's student government told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the referendum passed, though the NEC has refused to confirm this to the DP or to Scanlon. Scanlon, former chairperson of the Performing Arts Council, said she does not believe it will be possible to reintroduce the same referendum and keep the election completely bias-free, since "bias is a part of life." But she said the motion's sponsors fear that "student government at Penn is going to hit rock bottom before real progress is made." The decision to invalidate the measure was made at a confidential meeting during which two-thirds of the NEC's 25 members voted by secret ballot to uphold the IFC charge lodged against SAC. New NEC members are appointed by current members of the body, which elects its own steering committee. The group runs all student government elections and appoints students to serve on University committees. In its initial charge, the IFC identified an e-mail sent by SAC executive board member and College junior Amy Raphael to the International Relations majors' group listserv which stated that the organization would lose all of its funding if the money granted for IFC use was not under SAC control. SAC Chairperson and referendum co-author Sang Cha said the e-mail reflected the opinion of its author and not that of SAC. "The people who'll be in charge of the NEC should better distinguish what is an individual's action and what is a group's action," Cha said. Cha, a Wharton junior, added that he does not "think that the FPCR applies to this situation." IFC President Josh Belinfante said he supported the NEC's decision. "When you have the students admitting that they lied, you have the NEC and the student body looking foolish," the College junior said. But one NEC member who asked to remain anonymous said not all NEC members agreed with the ruling. The source voted against throwing out the referendum "because I feel it's something that the student body voted for." Daily Pennsylvanian staff reporter Binyamin Appelbaum contributed to this article.