Mather House Council Rejects Vote for CHUL Representative

The Mather House Council Tuesday night voided the results of the House's election of a CHUL representative. The elections took place Monday and Tuesday.

David Dobsen '74, vice-chairman of the council, said that after extended discussion, the council refused, in a 12-3 vote, to accept the election of Steuart H. Thomsen '76 as CHUL representative. Thomsen had won the initial election by a margin of 12 votes. He refused to comment on the election.

"We did not want to do it. There was nothing wrong going on," Dobsen said. The council refused to accept "basically, because of confusion during the polling," he added.

Dobsen said the council voided the election because:

*There was no consistent proxy policy and poll watchers were given no guidelines;

*No run-off policy had been announced, and three candidates thought there would be one while one thought not; and,

*During two of the four polling periods, the polls were not fully manned.

The fact that many students had already left for vacation contributed to the confusion, Dobsen added.

Stewart Holden '74, a member of the council, called its action Tuesday night "an outrage" and said that he spoke for many Mather House residents. He said that the problems Dobsen listed were "spurious", and attributed the voiding to conflict within the council.

Holden said there is a "generation gap" between the few seniors and the majority of sophomores who are members of the council. The sophomores regarded Thomsen as the older group's favorite, and therefore resented his election, he said.