Candidates Rack Up Violations

One day before voting closes, Undergraduate Council (UC) candidates are amassing campaign violations, with one ticket more than doubling its penalties in the past two days.

Presidential hopeful Ryan A. Petersen ’08 and running mate Matthew L. Sundquist ’09 were docked 135 points for their campaign’s unsolicited and illegal campaign messages via open e-mail lists. The penalties brought their total to 260 points, according to an e-mail sent by Election Commission Chair Joshua G. Allen ’09.

Any ticket that racks up 400 points in violations is disqualified from the race, according to UC election regulations.

Each UC presidential campaign is allotted $400 to spend on their campaigns.

If the combined number of violation points docked and dollars spent tops 400, candidates are required to return the amount exceeded to the UC Election Commission in the form of equivalent campaign goods, such as posters and flyers, according to Allen.

Petersen’s campaign has spent $126.69 thus far, leaving them under $13 to spend for the last two days of the election.

But Peterson said he is not worried.

“We knew there were stricter Election Commission rules this year, so we intentionally spent very little,” Petersen wrote in an e-mail yesterday. “Instead, we are focusing on costless grassroots effort: I find that students respond better to personal contact than doordrops and posters.”

The campaign manager for the Petersen-Sundquist ticket, Tracy E. Nowski ’07, said that with the end of the election in sight, the Petersen campaign does not anticipate the need for any new expenditures.

Allen said that another presidential ticket, led by Tom D. Hadfield ’08 and running mate Adam Goldenberg ’08, who are both Crimson editors, has expressed concern to the Election Commission that the Petersen-Sundquist campaign has understated its expenses.

But Allen said that there was “no evidence at this time” of any suspect spending.

The Hadfield-Goldenberg campaign has been charged with 25 violation points, the fewest number of infractions among the tickets, although it has spent over $300, the most of any campaign.

The UC Election Commission has charged the campaign of Ali A. Zaidi ’08 and running mate Edward Y. Lee ’08 with 185 violation points for infractions in the first few days of the election. The Zaidi-Lee ticket has spent $195 so far.

Zaidi said that his ticket never expected to spend more than $200, “recognizing that every $100 spent is $100 that student groups don’t get.”

Amadi P. Anene ’08 and running mate Kyle A. De Beausset ’08-’09, who is a Crimson editor, were listed as having 140 violation points.

Anene said that his campaign had lost points because Allen did not receive the personnel list his campaign had sent.

Anene could recover up to 35 points for the receipt of his staff list.

Anene’s campaign has spent just under $260. But, said the presidential candidate, “We are committed to getting our message out there, and I don’t think we need to spend a lot of money to do that, so I’m not worried.”

Brian S. Gillis ’07-’08 and his running mate, Morgan C. Wimberley ’08, have been charged with 35 infractions and have registered $60 worth of expenses.

The ticket for Tim R. Hwang ’08 and running mate Alex S. Wong ’08 has not yet been docked for any violations. They have spent $250 on red jumpsuits for the campaign staff and $10 for matching posters.