[1153] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: Creighton/Brar ticket decision
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jesse Gutkowski)
Thu Mar 14 02:34:45 2002
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Message-ID: <5.0.2.1.2.20020314021234.00a4f150@hesiod>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 02:16:25 -0500
From: Jesse Gutkowski <jgut@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <200203140641.BAA03869@buzzword-bingo.mit.edu>
Sorry to spam but...
This is, to say the least a fault of the UA. If Rhett and Victor win, they
will be the people's choice and that is democratic, contrary to your
distorted views of democracy. If the UA wasn't such a crock of shit,
perhaps this wouldn't be an issue at all. Personally, I believe that
everyone should be asking for your resignation. If the UA is in fact a
democracy, this would be the appropriate action. The UA is the failures in
this situation, not Rhett or Victor. Do not punish someone for your
faults. This is a disgrace, as is the $5000 discretionary fund that exists
for the UA President.
I urge everyone to continue to vote for the Creighton/Brar ticket and for
the newspapers to tear apart this disgraceful attempt by the UA to maintain
its pathetic norm. Vote Creighton/Brar and make a real difference in the
way things work. I've never been more disappointed or disgusted in my
three and half years here yet.
Jesse
At 01:41 AM 3/14/2002 -0500, Helen Lee wrote:
>Hello everyone,
>
>There has been a lot of controversy about the UAP/UAVP elections this
>year. As the UA Election Commissioner, I'd like to share some
>clarifications as well as new information.
>
>The Election Commission has reviewed Dan Liston's communications to the
>public and to Rhett and feels that they were inappropriate. I asked Dan to
>resign from the Rules Board, and have recommended that Swapna Panuganti
>replace
> him as Chair of the Rules Board.
>
>We have also reviewed the issue at hand - the Creighton/Brar ticket
>offering $10 to each person that places them first on the ballot. After
>much discussion (which was not, alas, reflected in Dan's emails) the
>Election Commission and Rules Board have come to a consensus that offering
>bribes to students that vote for them is unethical and against the spirit
>of the election rules and the UA Constitution. Regardless of where they
>would obtain the money, they are using money to pay for votes all the same.
>
>As has been pointed out, there is no specific rule in the Election Code or
>Campaign Rules that says that offering voters money for their vote is a
>violation. Apparently at least this basic rule that should have been there
>was neglected. However, the rules are only the minimal explicit set of
>rules to guide the Commission and Rules Board and say so explicitly. When
>we make decisions we are supposed to consider the spirit of the elections
>as well as the published rules.
>
>The Commission and Rules Board believes that our central purpose is to
>maintain the integrity of the election and the campaign. Allowing
>candidates to offer bribes to voters seriously compromises this integrity
>and is also obviously contrary to basic democratic principles.
>
>The decision of the Election Commission and Rules Board is that the
>Creighton/Brar ticket, because of their public offers to bribe students for
>their votes, are disqualified from the election. All votes for them will
>be awarded to the next preferences chosen on each ballot.
>
>We have no official opinion on the appropriateness of using the Bush fund
>for this or any other purpose.
>
>We have no official opinion on the appropriateness of promising a certain
>amount of money to every undergraduate (a 'refund') regardless of how he or
>she votes.
>
>I encourage everyone to think about this issue seriously and thank those
>that have been doing so. I realize that we have made mistakes but we are
>doing our best to remedy them.
>
>To Rhett and Victor - I know that the decision above is not stated in
>official terms with citations and such. I apologize - I do not have
>experience in writing such statements - but we felt it was important to
>distribute this information quickly and clearly. If you would like to
>appeal this decision, as I anticipate you will, please email the UA
>Judicial Review Board (ua-judboard@mit.edu) with the details of your appeal.
>
>To everybody - if you would like to discuss previous emails from the
>Election Commission or Rules Board, or this email, I urge you to speak to
>me personally. My phone number is 617.256.8121 and I will be in the UA
>office from 2:30-4pm tomorrow (Thursday). If neither of those works for
>you, please email me and we can arrange a time to talk.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Helen Lee
>UA Election Commissioner
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