Freshman Council Denies Charges That Elections Were Mismanaged

The Freshman Council issued a statement Friday charging that the CRIMSON is "largely responsible" for the impression that the freshman HUC and SFAC elections "were in some way deceptively or fraudulently conducted."

The Council claimed that they had publicized the elections well in advance of the filing deadline for candidates. According to the statement, posters were placed in the Union, notices were put in each dormitory entry, and announcements were read over WHRB.

"The fact that twelve candidates sought five seats on the HUC demonstrates that there was a lack of interest in SFAC, not a lack of publicity," it added.

Freshmen Protest

Three freshmen protested the elections, claiming that they did not discover until Tuesday night that they were eligible to run for SFAC. There were only three candidates on the ballot for SFAC.

The Council also refuted the accusation that three candidates had delivered the ballots from their proctorial units to Election Center on Wednesday.

Two--not three--candidates carried ballots back to election headquarters, the Council said, and "this fact was recognized immediately and the ballots were returned to the units in question by the election committee." The voters then certified their ballots and the results were identical.

Election Totals

L. Edward Roberts, president of the Council, released the election totals last night to the CRIMSON. In the HUC election, the results were: Michael I. Smith, 312; Stephen J. Ellman, 269; Richard Zorza, 267; Chad K. McDaniel, 266; William H. Guenther, 266; David B. Klein, 246; Emile S. Godfrey, 241; Zachary A. Polett, 230; William W. Clinkenbeard, 221; Thomas S. Dickerson, 196; Richard B. Primack, 151; and John A. Simon, 141.

Roberts only announced the final totals of the three official SFAC candidates on the ballot since the Council has not yet decided whether to announce the write in votes. The totals were: John F. Gillespie, 329; Joseph B. Gurman, 324; and Michael L. Ryan, 318.