Currier HoCo Vote Delayed

House Master Joseph L. Badaracco announced Friday that Currier House will be scrapping the results of three earlier rounds of voting for House Committee (HoCo) chairs and holding an entirely new election in February, after students raised concerns about the security of the online voting system.

The revelation that students could vote multiple times on surveymonkey.com, the website used for the election this year, added a new twist to an increasingly bizarre election.

In an e-mail to the House, Badaracco expressed his surprise about last week’s election, which witnessed a tie in both initial and run-off voting.

“Murphy’s law – if something can go wrong it will – was at work,” he wrote.

When the initial vote for HoCo co-chairs closed last Tuesday, Techrosette Leng ’07 held the lead with 99 votes, while candidates Christopher S. Cullen ’07 and Geoffrey D. Kearney ’07 tied with 67 votes each. A run-off election between Cullen and Kearney resulted on Thursday in an unlikely second tie, with both candidates garnering 90 votes.

In a meeting late Thursday night, Badaracco and the outgoing HoCo members decided to hold an unprecedented second run-off election. But after the committee realized that users could vote multiple times from the same link using different computers, Badaracco canceled the election.

An entirely new election, administered via paper ballots, will take place at the beginning of next semester, according to Badaracco’s e-mail. All three candidates will again present speeches and answer questions from House members.

This decision capped a weekend of long meetings, heated discussions, and what Leng called a “whirlwind” of e-mails.

“It’s been really intense, very emotional,” Leng said on Saturday. “On the whole, it was an exhausting process.”

The committee decided against immediately holding another runoff before intersession.

“It would generate voter fatigue and make a mockery of the entire system if done this semester,” said Leng, who participated in the discussions about the elections. “If done second semester, it will help remedy voter fatigue and open it up to the rest of the House.”

The paper balloting should also quell students’ concerns about the security and fairness of the electronic system, according to outgoing HoCo Vice-Chair Samita A. Mannapperuma ’06.

“Because this is so important, we want to have full confidence in the results,” said Mannapperuma, who is also a Crimson editor.

The curious circumstances in Currier have elicited calls for a uniform, secure online system for House elections. Currently, each House uses its own voting method—some use paper ballots, while others use electronic systems.

“We need a campus-wide system for HoCo elections,” said Mannapperuma. “Something analogous to the [Undergraduate Council] voting system.”

Kearney said he was not surprised to hear that the online voting method was less than secure.

“There were questions from the beginning about how secure an online poll could be,” he said. “Our fears were confirmed.”

Aside from the voting oddities, House members said the election was also notable for the high voter turnout. Almost two-thirds of the House participated in each vote.

Outgoing HoCo members attributed the high level of participation to the popularity of the candidates and general enthusiasm for the social events sponsored by the HoCo.

“The three candidates are widely known in the House and are very popular,” said Mannapperuma. “They’re promoting a lot of different social initiatives.”

Leng pointed to the HoCo’s success in promoting House unity and House-wide events. Each week, for example, close to a hundred Currier residents turn out to watch the latest edition of the hit TV show “24.”

“The main reason there was so much participation this year is that the Currier HoCo is very present in the House and is something people adore and love,” Leng said.

All three candidates also tried to make personal appeals to voters.

“There have been high levels of outreach to people in Currier,” Kearney said. “I’ve been telling them, ‘If you want a hand in choosing leaders, then come out to surveymonkey.’”

While candidates said they were stressed and disappointed by the ups and downs of the week’s voting, they had high hopes for the future.

“It’s not ideal,” said Kearney. “But it’s the best thing we can do if we want to elect two legitimately elected co-chairs to the House Committee.”

—Staff writer Dan R. Rasmussen can be reached at drasmuss@fas.harvard.edu.