Radcliffe Has a Recount

There is a certain quixotic charm about that mystery of the misplaced votes at Radcliffe. What happened on the female side of the Square last week bodes well for the supply of Hokinsonian matrons in the suburbia of the future, but the people actually involved in the incident might feel that they have a right to expect more responsible behavior from a duly constituted Student Government.

The Student Government at Radcliffe held its election last week and announced the results with great fanfare. Only yesterday did the fact become known that the "election committee" had misplaced 97 votes and that a recount had changed the results in one office.

Even in the most careful circles mistakes do happen. However, a close survey of last week's affair will show it is a thing of wonder that there was nothing more exciting that 97 misplaced votes.

The election was supposedly conducted under a constitution that is written in clear, if not deathless, prose. It states in part: "The Electoral Committee shall consist of representatives from each of the four classes and a junior shall be chairman. . . The duties of this committee shall be to. . . attend to the counting of votes."

Last week's election committee was composed of three girls, not the required four. There were representatives of only two classes, not of the required four. The chairman was a sophomore, not the required junior.

Nowhere in the constitution is there a provision against candidates for office counting ballots. Common sense, however, does seem to rule against it. Two of the three girls who counted ballots were candidates.

There is no suggestion that either fraud or deceit was the cause of the improper procedure and the subsequent miscount. Still, the cavalier attitude of the last Student Government toward their own rules led to the same result.

To the new Student Government, which we assume is correctly announced unless there are any more ballots discovered uncounted, we would like to suggest that the Student Government regulations should be followed--especially by the Student Government. If the new officials feel that the constitution is inadequate in any way, the proper procedure would be to change it, not to violate it.