Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Colorado's election in dispute
By Paula Pant
Colorado Daily (U. Colorado)
04/20/2006

(U-WIRE) BOULDER, Colo. — Five formal challenges were launched Wednesday contesting the preliminary results of the University of Colorado Student Union election.

Two of the complaints — one from the Marvel tri-executive ticket and one from non-candidate Maximillian Mascerenas — were unanimously rendered "invalid" by Election Commissioner Corey Fitze and his two assistants. Three other complaints are still in review.

The Marvel ticket alleged an election code infraction concerning the CLASS ACT ticket's expenditure report. The alleged infraction concerns an April 12 advertisement in the Colorado Daily, which was paid for by the Inter-Fraternity Council in support of CLASS ACT. Marvel alleged that the cost of the ad was higher than the amount a ticket is allowed to receive in donations from outside sources.

Tri-executive tickets can spend $1,050 in campaigning. 50 percent of this can be given as a donation from an outside source.

Fitze stated that IFC submitted a receipt showing that CLASS ACT reimbursed them for the price of the ad. While the Marvel complaint still "question(s) the legality for candidates being allowed to make to a party that originally gave a donation," they will have to file another complaint in order to pursue the matter, said Fitze.

CLASS ACT responded by filing two challenges against the Marvel ticket - one complaint alleging that the receipts turned in by Marvel do not match its expenditures, and the other alleging that an advertisement run in the Colorado Daily was not listed as an expenditure by Marvel.

The ad in question was paid for in cash by a woman named "Julia" and did not mention the "Marvel ticket" or any of its candidates. It did, however, cite the student organizations that endorsed the Marvel ticket, a list which was later reprinted on flyers distributed by Marvel.

A third challenge, by Mascarenas, alleged that representative-at-large elect Scott McEachron violated expense limits by spending more than 50 percent of his total campaign costs with donated money — McEachron raised $150 in donations and spent $297.10 total. Fitze and his assistants unanimously rejected this challenge because half of the total eligible campaign budget — not just the actual spent budget — is allowed to come from donations.

A fourth complaint was filed by two non-candidate students on the grounds that 150 students were locked out of the voting system.

According to Fitze, 148 students would have endured difficulties accessing the e-ballot because they needed to upload part of CU Connect, the Web portal through which students voted, in order to cast a ballot.

"I personally e-mailed all 148 students saying they could come in and fill out a paper ballot," said Fitze. One student did so.

"I don't disagree with that complaint, but it seems ironic that the two students who turned it in, a) already voted, and b) turned it a form letter (complaint) that was forwarded to them," said Fitze.

Neither student would disclose who forwarded the form-letter complaint.

Hawkins and Homies, the write-in tri-executive ticket, issued a formal challenge on similar grounds. "We consider the simple task of sending an e-mail to not be enough," Hawkins wrote, citing the number of disenfranchised voters at 650 (150 plus 500 students who, as of mid-election week, had started the ballot but didn't yet finish it).

Hawkins submitted a second challenge complaining of "relevant evidence of negative campaigning" in the form of "destruction of campaign materials, intimidating voters (and) e-ballot failure."

"As soon as we announced our intentions to run for tri-executive, the other tickets along with UCSU started campaigning negatively against us," said Hawkins. "I would like to mention that Corey Fitze and (UCSU public relations) director Trevor Martin did seem amped on us."

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