Election protest

Dave Daly has officially taken over as administrative vice president for the Student Government Association, but one of his opponents in the election believes it was an unconstitutional victory.

"Rules are rules and when they are broken there needs to be action and repercussions," Chris Peltier, a write-in candidate for the position said in an e-mail.

Peltier believes that the way the election was held violated the SGA constitution, and therefore is invalid. He claims that because there was no public forum held for candidates to answer student body questions, as well as the fact that a video featuring Daly and Katee Ingram, another candidate played near the voting area, the election was unconstitutional.

President of SGA John Kleinhans and vice president Rachel Keller deny that any wrongdoing occurred.

"I don't think our elections were unconstitutional as people have said," Kleinhans said. "I think we took a different approach and that's how we interpreted the constitution and that was deemed valid."

As for the video that ran in the Alexander Twilight Theater lobby, Keller said the college decides what videos to play there.

"We don't have control over what goes on the kiosk and when it runs," she said, adding "The video was for people who filled out petitions, and that's what an open forum would have been for as well."

Article V, Section 1, Clause C in the SGA constitution specifies that in an election, an public forum is mandatory, and that all candidates must attend to answer questions.

Clause D of the same article states "there will be no visible or audible campaigning within fifty (50) feet of the voting area".

Peltier said that the SGA disregarded both of these issues in the constitution.

"However, when I asked for voting numbers on Friday the constitution was thrown up as a defense," he said. "So I feel like if it can be followed so strictly to work for their advantage, then it must be followed equally as strictly when it is breached."

According to the constitution, it is up to the Board of Elections to appoint new executive board members after an impeachment occurs.

"We could have handled it in the SGA and appointed someone, but we thought that holding a campus vote would just have a ton of turnout," Kleinhans said. "And the ability to broadcast out each candidate's message, it took off. I mean, 20 percent is huge. I am very proud of the SGA to get 20 percent," Kleinhans said.

While Peltier is not formally requesting another election be held, he is reaching out to work through communication issues between the SGA and the student body as a whole.

"At the very least I think the SGA owes an explanation/apology to the student body for the way the election and results were handled. Speaking as voters and students we were merely requesting vote results, and in my mind were treated as inferiors who were on a "need to know" basis," he said. "I agree there are certain things that go on that may not be appropriate for public release, but my question is how is releasing election results to the voters detrimental?"

Peltier is hoping to work with the SGA to bring about some positive changes, speaking to Kleinhans, and meeting with Keller and SGA adviser Shannon Healy.

"I think the fact that the Shadrock controversy has been the biggest news to come out of SGA this year is unfortunate," he said. "Let's work together to identify the problems, and constructive work towards solving them so that the LSC experience may be better enjoyed by all students, current and future."