Council Bars NSA Re-Vote In 8 to 5 Split

Despite charges of "covering up" and hints of a whitewash by several Council members, the Student Council voted 8 to 5 last night against holding another college-wide referendum on the NSA.

The three Council members appointed two weeks ago as a committee to investigate the charges of "illegal procedure" and corrupt election practices involved in the NSA referendum reported that they acknowledged "infractions in some of the Houses, but felt that the sum total was not enough to warrant a College-wide re-vote.

Dudley Ballots Invalid

In the case of Dudley House, the committee said, "the infractions are serious enough to warrant that the ballots be declared invalid." Thus, the final vote of the referendum was 823 for and 891 against Harvard's membership in the NSA.

"Some individuals," the report continued, "were not as honest as they might have been expected to be. The committee condemns the actions of some individuals and will convey its feelings to them personally."

Included in the report on the NSA referendum was a revised list of election rules pertaining to future elections. One Council member declared, "I almost suspect that the election rules were used in the report to cover up other matters." The committee, he said, "has contradicted its original purpose, and there is too much glossing over reality."

Charges Denied

These charges were denied by other Council members who argued that "there is no point in bringing up a bunch of charges which may or may not be true."

Lawrence K. Ekpebu '60, another member of the committee, said the charges of corruption in the election "had made a very bad impression on the student body." The election, he said, "was not clean of infractions," but stated that the matter of what to do about it was for future Councils to decide.