GOP Club Members Raise Questions

Members of the Harvard Republican Club (HRC) said yesterday that candidates may have tried to influence the election's outcome by encouraging non-club members, including some Democrats, to vote in Wednesday's elections,

The tactic does not violate the group's rules, but club leaders said the strategy could damage the club by giving non-Republicans a say in the club's leadership. Several said they will try to change club rules to prohibit those techniques in the future.

Robert R. Porter '02, the incoming president, said last night that he had encouraged non-club members to join in order to vote, but said he targeted only those who shared his Republican beliefs.

Erin L. Sheley '02, who ran unsuccessfully for vice president in an unofficial partnership with Porter, wrote an e-mail message to the staff of the Harvard Political Review (HPR)

encouraging non-Republicans to join the club by its Nov. 29 deadline in order to vote for her in the election. But she said she did so only after club members told her other candidates were using similar tactics.

"You could look at this as a means of keeping more conservative Republicans out of office," Sheley wrote in her e-mail message soliciting votes. She describes herself as "almost unacceptably moderate" to most club members.

"The thought of stooping to that level has been offensive enough that I've refused to consider it up until now, but I've come to the conclusion that the only way to avoid getting screwed out of my place is to sacrifice my moral [principles]," she wrote in the appeal.

Sheley said she later decided the tactics were unacceptable.

She resigned from her post as secretary and decided to withdraw her vice presidential bid. She wrote that she then rejoined the race, but insisted on throwing out the votes of her non-Republican friends.

Sheley, who declined to be interviewed by telephone for this story, wrote in an e-mail message that she was not sure whether she would have won if she had allowed the votes to count.

Porter, Sheley, incoming HRC vice president W. Lucien Smith '03 and club member Jeffrey A. Letalien '01 all said they believed that candidates besides Porter and Sheley sought votes from those outside the club.

Membership in the club increased from about 75 in the week before the election to 101 members who voted at the election.

Former club president Jason P. Brinton '01 said that the sudden jump in membership was not out of the ordinary.

"Everyone at Harvard procrastinates," Brinton said. " It's the paper phenomenon. If you assign a paper due in three weeks, no one's going to do it until right before it's due." Brinton said he believed that the number of dues-paying members who had crossed party lines to vote was "minimal."

Sheley wrote last night that she felt that the HRC election rules needed to be changed in order to ensure fairness.

"I think the system whereby anyone who pays dues a week before the election can vote ought to be changed," she wrote. "I don't think non-active members ought to be choosing our leadership and any steps I took that contributed to such a system were only defensive measures."

Other members of the HRC who were involved with the election said that they felt recruitment outside of party lines was not appropriate.

"I don't like the fact that non-participants come in and decide our election," said Letalien, who said he nonetheless advised Sheley that recruiting from outside the club "was part of politics, and she should do the same thing," he said. Letalien said he believed similar tactics were used in last year's elections.

"I think any large-scale recruiting of Democrats would be unfair," Smith said. "Any substantial bringing out of Democrats is inappropriate."

Porter said he believed campaigning ought to be directed only to those of "similar political persuasion."

In the aftermath of the election, Porter said he advocates "reforms that make sense and ensure that people feel comfortable with the campaign."

Brinton, however, said the club must be careful not to exclude potential members on the basis of their beliefs.

"It is contrary to the goals of this club to condition one's acceptance into the club on any sort of litmus test," he wrote.