Multiple Voting Possible In Council Referendum

Vote early and, perhaps, often. It's possible that some voters were able to do just than in this week's Undergraduate Council term bill referendum, several students said yesterday.

No one interviewed was able to identify a student who had voted more than once, but the council administered referendum had few safeguards to prevent multiple balloting.

This failure to administer the vote with even the most basic of safeguards puts the validity of the referendum in doubt. After allegations of other election improprieties earlier this week, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said the College might move to invalidate the referendum.

Some charged this week that the council had violated its own rules by having members table for the referendum in their own houses. One member was even accused of harassment after a run-in with a voter in his own house.

Even the security of the voting has been calledinto question. Council members acknowledged thisweek that ballots cast Wednesday were leftunsecured in the council's Canaday office.

The allegations "are very serious and theycould have the effect of invalidating thisreferendum," Epps said on Thursday night.

Interviewed about the possibility of multipleballoting yesterday, Epps said he wanted towithhold further comment until Monday's Committeeon College Life meeting.

But despite all the allegations, Vice PresidentJoshua D. Liston '95, the official administratorof the election, said last night that the councilhas received no complaints about the balloting .

"There have been no official complaints", saidListon, adding that the council could not respondor act to change referendum procedures withoutthem. "No student have written the council."

In many cases, students voting in thereferendum were not required to showidentification, they said. The procedures appearedto be most lax in the Freshman Union, where therewas no effort to confirm voters' identities.

"If you wanted to, you could vote as many timesas you wanted," said Edy Y. Kim '97. "You just hadto pick a name" of a person who hadn't voted.

David L. Huang '97 said council members tablingin the Union even rebuffed his offer to displayidentification before voting.

"I offered to show them my ID, but they didn'twant it," Huang said.

Joshua E. Greenfield '97 said he illegally casta vote in Leverett House which was almost counted.

Greenfield said he was asked simply to sign asheet of white lined paper.

Greenfield said he then asked the councilmember "in jest" if the two pre-frosh accompanyinghis could vote.

"At that point, she looked at me, asked if Iwas from Leverett, and I said no," Greenfieldsaid.

The council member then tore up Greenfield'sballot.

"I could have voted, walkout of Leverett House,and that would have been it," Greenfield said. "Itwas only because I lingered that she found outthat I wasn't from Leverett House.,"

"I thought I could vote because If I votedonce, I would be checkedoff some big master list, and that would be it,"Greenfield said.

No such list exists, according to Liston. Andthe vice President said council members tabling intheir respective houses were not required to askstudents for identification.

In response to Greenfield's story, Liston saidsome houses did not have lists of studentsavailable. Instead, voters were asked to sign apiece of that "will be checked before the countingtakes place," he said.

Asked what the council would do if it found avoter on such a piece of paper who wasn't in thegiven house, Liston said: "We'll deal with that ifit happens."

But council of President Carey W. Gabay '94offered a more detailed response.

If the council discovered that a student hadcast multiple votes, "we'd look at thecollege-wide vote and if it was really close,we'll have to invalidate it," Gabay said.

Allegations of Misconduct

The first two days of the referendum sawseemingly endless stream of allegations ofmisconduct. One student was inspired to comparethe referendum to "badly run elections you'd findin some small Latin American countries."

Charges surfaced on Wednesday that councilmembers--in violation of both their constitutionand the referendum's rules--illegally tabled intheir own houses.

Liston said Thursday night that the rule wasn'tbrought to his attention until Wednesday night. Hesaid the council reshuffled the house assignmentsfor the voting Thursday and yesterday.

Mather House delegated Greg J. Davis '94-'96said Liston told council members originally thatthere would be no tabling by delegates in theirown houses. But the vice president apparentlychanged his mind to Tuesday night, Davis said.

"Originally, we were told that we couldn't butthen Josh said we could," Davis said Thursdaynight. "I asked him several times to make sure Iheard him right, but he specifically asked me totable at my house."

In addition, Mather House delegate Michael P.Beys '94 was accused by Dawn Austin '92-'95 ofharassing and intimidating potential voters whiletabling there (please see photograph, thispage).

"When I began to vote, I circled 'no', and Mikewas watching me," said Austin, adding that she hadasked Beys about the rate increase. "And he said,`Obviously this was a waste of my breath.' I Toldhim that I wanted to give him an opportunity tosay something and explain the council's rationale,and I told him that an informed vote is the bestvote."

Beys said Austin was "making a point by voting'no' right in front of me...after I had spent alot of time and answered her question."

But the charges against Beys were not thecouncil's only problem. Some council that ballotscollected from Wednesday's voting were leftunsecured.

Liston said the council had originally made noplans to secure the ballots, but placed them in alocked box as of Thursday.

Term Bill Hike Debate

The revelations about the potential formultiple balloting ended a difficult week for theembattled council.

This and the other allegations have divertedattention from the issue at stake--whether thecouncil should be allowed to raise its term billfee from $20 to $30.

The council began the week dealing with adifferent set of charges. Former council memberAnjalee C. Davis '96, who organized the drive forballot, charged that the council had mishandledher petition.

Davis' petition called for a council referendumon five issues: the hike; the check box option onundergraduate term bills that allows students toforego the council's fee; the distribution ofunspent council funds to the house committees;popular election of council executives; andsemiannual general elections.

Davis submitted her petition to the fullcouncil on April 10.

But Gabay charged that Davis' petition hadmanipulated student discontent on the term billfee hike in order to get all five issues on thereferendum.

Since the petition "gave no student the rightto decide which of the five they wanted, it wasbasically packed," Gabay said last week.

Agreeing in principle with Gabay's argument,the council executive board voted 5-1 on April 13to submit a referendum including nothing but avote on the term bill fee hike.

And as specified in Davis' petition, theexecutive board agreed that the results of thereferendum would be binding on the council. Thatmeans that a three-fourths vote of the councilcould overturn the will of the students.

And after some debate, the council backed theexecutive board's decision during its meeting lastSunday.

In his presidential remarks to open themeeting, Gabay announced the executive boarddecision, asked if there were any objections, andsaw none.

But at the end of the meeting, Kevin C. Scott'97 made a motion to overturn the executive boarddecision.

Nineteen council members voted for the motion,but that number fell far short of the majorityrequired to overturn the executive board'sdecision.

In another failed attempt to get all fivepetition issues onto the ballot, Rudd W. Coffey'97 proposed six individual measures, each ofwhich required a two-thirds vote by the counciljust for consideration and debate.

Five of Coffey's resolutions would have addedvarious combinations of the questions barred bythe executive board to the referendum ballot.

The final piece of new business would haverequired the council to call 200 of the petition'ssignees at random and ask them which of the issuesthey wanted to see on a referendum. The councilwould then have put on the referendum any issuereceiving more than 100 votes.

The council refused to consider any of the sixmeasures.

Davis has criticized the council's reluctanceto put all five issues on the ballot. She calledthe decision to eliminate four of the issue "aninsult to the intelligence of Harvard students andsay they want a vote."

Preparing for a Vote

The council made an all-out publicity push insupport of the term bill hike in preparation forthe vote, which occurred on April 20-22.

The Yard and the Houses were decorated withposters listing various groups which receivecouncil grant as well as various social andservice activities sponsored by the council.

And on Monday night, Gabay and Davis, alongwith two other student leaders, participated in apanel discussion of the term-bill hike at theKennedy School of Government.

Gabay reiterated the council's argument insupport of the fee hike. He called the $10increase a "need, not a want."

Gabay said dramatic cuts in grants to studentorganizations would be necessary if the councildid not receive undergraduate backing for the termbill hike.

The president also noted that many of thecouncil's larger social projects, such as nextweek's Yardfest, were funded by unspent funds fromthe year before, or roll-over. Since the roll-overis steadily declining, such events would beimpossible in the future without an increase inthe term bill fee, he said.

Davis objected to the fact that the additionalterm bill fee would not be covered in studentfinancial aid packages.

Davis also questioned whether the council'sconduct in handling her petition--which she hasdescribed as "arrogant"--should be rewarded withmore money.

Another Referendum?

Epps indicated last week that the College wouldconsider holding a referendum on all five of theissues on Davis' petition if the council itselffailed to do so.

And a repeat of the referendum is likely if theCollege moves to invalidate this week balloting.

Early indications are that the term bill hikeis likely to be opposed by student voters. But thebigger loss could be to the council's credibility.

"It should like things are a bit out ofcontrol," Epps said Thursday night," "and I thinkthe administration is going to have to take a moreactive role."Photo courtesy Jol A. SilversmithMICHAEL P. BEYS '94 (left), a MatherHouse delegate to the Undergraduate Council tablesfor the term-bill hike in his own house--aviolation of the council's constitution and thereferendum's own rules.

Even the security of the voting has been calledinto question. Council members acknowledged thisweek that ballots cast Wednesday were leftunsecured in the council's Canaday office.

The allegations "are very serious and theycould have the effect of invalidating thisreferendum," Epps said on Thursday night.

Interviewed about the possibility of multipleballoting yesterday, Epps said he wanted towithhold further comment until Monday's Committeeon College Life meeting.

But despite all the allegations, Vice PresidentJoshua D. Liston '95, the official administratorof the election, said last night that the councilhas received no complaints about the balloting .

"There have been no official complaints", saidListon, adding that the council could not respondor act to change referendum procedures withoutthem. "No student have written the council."

In many cases, students voting in thereferendum were not required to showidentification, they said. The procedures appearedto be most lax in the Freshman Union, where therewas no effort to confirm voters' identities.

"If you wanted to, you could vote as many timesas you wanted," said Edy Y. Kim '97. "You just hadto pick a name" of a person who hadn't voted.

David L. Huang '97 said council members tablingin the Union even rebuffed his offer to displayidentification before voting.

"I offered to show them my ID, but they didn'twant it," Huang said.

Joshua E. Greenfield '97 said he illegally casta vote in Leverett House which was almost counted.

Greenfield said he was asked simply to sign asheet of white lined paper.

Greenfield said he then asked the councilmember "in jest" if the two pre-frosh accompanyinghis could vote.

"At that point, she looked at me, asked if Iwas from Leverett, and I said no," Greenfieldsaid.

The council member then tore up Greenfield'sballot.

"I could have voted, walkout of Leverett House,and that would have been it," Greenfield said. "Itwas only because I lingered that she found outthat I wasn't from Leverett House.,"

"I thought I could vote because If I votedonce, I would be checkedoff some big master list, and that would be it,"Greenfield said.

No such list exists, according to Liston. Andthe vice President said council members tabling intheir respective houses were not required to askstudents for identification.

In response to Greenfield's story, Liston saidsome houses did not have lists of studentsavailable. Instead, voters were asked to sign apiece of that "will be checked before the countingtakes place," he said.

Asked what the council would do if it found avoter on such a piece of paper who wasn't in thegiven house, Liston said: "We'll deal with that ifit happens."

But council of President Carey W. Gabay '94offered a more detailed response.

If the council discovered that a student hadcast multiple votes, "we'd look at thecollege-wide vote and if it was really close,we'll have to invalidate it," Gabay said.

Allegations of Misconduct

The first two days of the referendum sawseemingly endless stream of allegations ofmisconduct. One student was inspired to comparethe referendum to "badly run elections you'd findin some small Latin American countries."

Charges surfaced on Wednesday that councilmembers--in violation of both their constitutionand the referendum's rules--illegally tabled intheir own houses.

Liston said Thursday night that the rule wasn'tbrought to his attention until Wednesday night. Hesaid the council reshuffled the house assignmentsfor the voting Thursday and yesterday.

Mather House delegated Greg J. Davis '94-'96said Liston told council members originally thatthere would be no tabling by delegates in theirown houses. But the vice president apparentlychanged his mind to Tuesday night, Davis said.

"Originally, we were told that we couldn't butthen Josh said we could," Davis said Thursdaynight. "I asked him several times to make sure Iheard him right, but he specifically asked me totable at my house."

In addition, Mather House delegate Michael P.Beys '94 was accused by Dawn Austin '92-'95 ofharassing and intimidating potential voters whiletabling there (please see photograph, thispage).

"When I began to vote, I circled 'no', and Mikewas watching me," said Austin, adding that she hadasked Beys about the rate increase. "And he said,`Obviously this was a waste of my breath.' I Toldhim that I wanted to give him an opportunity tosay something and explain the council's rationale,and I told him that an informed vote is the bestvote."

Beys said Austin was "making a point by voting'no' right in front of me...after I had spent alot of time and answered her question."

But the charges against Beys were not thecouncil's only problem. Some council that ballotscollected from Wednesday's voting were leftunsecured.

Liston said the council had originally made noplans to secure the ballots, but placed them in alocked box as of Thursday.

Term Bill Hike Debate

The revelations about the potential formultiple balloting ended a difficult week for theembattled council.

This and the other allegations have divertedattention from the issue at stake--whether thecouncil should be allowed to raise its term billfee from $20 to $30.

The council began the week dealing with adifferent set of charges. Former council memberAnjalee C. Davis '96, who organized the drive forballot, charged that the council had mishandledher petition.

Davis' petition called for a council referendumon five issues: the hike; the check box option onundergraduate term bills that allows students toforego the council's fee; the distribution ofunspent council funds to the house committees;popular election of council executives; andsemiannual general elections.

Davis submitted her petition to the fullcouncil on April 10.

But Gabay charged that Davis' petition hadmanipulated student discontent on the term billfee hike in order to get all five issues on thereferendum.

Since the petition "gave no student the rightto decide which of the five they wanted, it wasbasically packed," Gabay said last week.

Agreeing in principle with Gabay's argument,the council executive board voted 5-1 on April 13to submit a referendum including nothing but avote on the term bill fee hike.

And as specified in Davis' petition, theexecutive board agreed that the results of thereferendum would be binding on the council. Thatmeans that a three-fourths vote of the councilcould overturn the will of the students.

And after some debate, the council backed theexecutive board's decision during its meeting lastSunday.

In his presidential remarks to open themeeting, Gabay announced the executive boarddecision, asked if there were any objections, andsaw none.

But at the end of the meeting, Kevin C. Scott'97 made a motion to overturn the executive boarddecision.

Nineteen council members voted for the motion,but that number fell far short of the majorityrequired to overturn the executive board'sdecision.

In another failed attempt to get all fivepetition issues onto the ballot, Rudd W. Coffey'97 proposed six individual measures, each ofwhich required a two-thirds vote by the counciljust for consideration and debate.

Five of Coffey's resolutions would have addedvarious combinations of the questions barred bythe executive board to the referendum ballot.

The final piece of new business would haverequired the council to call 200 of the petition'ssignees at random and ask them which of the issuesthey wanted to see on a referendum. The councilwould then have put on the referendum any issuereceiving more than 100 votes.

The council refused to consider any of the sixmeasures.

Davis has criticized the council's reluctanceto put all five issues on the ballot. She calledthe decision to eliminate four of the issue "aninsult to the intelligence of Harvard students andsay they want a vote."

Preparing for a Vote

The council made an all-out publicity push insupport of the term bill hike in preparation forthe vote, which occurred on April 20-22.

The Yard and the Houses were decorated withposters listing various groups which receivecouncil grant as well as various social andservice activities sponsored by the council.

And on Monday night, Gabay and Davis, alongwith two other student leaders, participated in apanel discussion of the term-bill hike at theKennedy School of Government.

Gabay reiterated the council's argument insupport of the fee hike. He called the $10increase a "need, not a want."

Gabay said dramatic cuts in grants to studentorganizations would be necessary if the councildid not receive undergraduate backing for the termbill hike.

The president also noted that many of thecouncil's larger social projects, such as nextweek's Yardfest, were funded by unspent funds fromthe year before, or roll-over. Since the roll-overis steadily declining, such events would beimpossible in the future without an increase inthe term bill fee, he said.

Davis objected to the fact that the additionalterm bill fee would not be covered in studentfinancial aid packages.

Davis also questioned whether the council'sconduct in handling her petition--which she hasdescribed as "arrogant"--should be rewarded withmore money.

Another Referendum?

Epps indicated last week that the College wouldconsider holding a referendum on all five of theissues on Davis' petition if the council itselffailed to do so.

And a repeat of the referendum is likely if theCollege moves to invalidate this week balloting.

Early indications are that the term bill hikeis likely to be opposed by student voters. But thebigger loss could be to the council's credibility.

"It should like things are a bit out ofcontrol," Epps said Thursday night," "and I thinkthe administration is going to have to take a moreactive role."Photo courtesy Jol A. SilversmithMICHAEL P. BEYS '94 (left), a MatherHouse delegate to the Undergraduate Council tablesfor the term-bill hike in his own house--aviolation of the council's constitution and thereferendum's own rules.