Grievances filed in Student Senate elections
Senate still dealing with close outcome of presidential election, ethics being questioned
Nicole Strittmater
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: News
Charlier said right now Senate doesn't have anything written in its bylaws as far as what's against the rules, which is what's making it seem like it's a free-for-all.
"The campaigns on both sides were following the rules and trying to make sure that it was a good, clean election, and I think what happened is that the supporters of the two campaigns possibly took it too far," Charlier said. "I think Tim (Lauer) and I want to work to correct that and make sure that can't happen again."
Some candidates, including Mattheisen and Wee, set up computers for people to vote at on the Campus Mall Monday during Senate Day, a time for campaigning.
Senate questioned whether it is ethical to set up unofficial polling places and help people to vote.
"I think it's perfectly legitimate to take computers around and encourage people to vote, but they cannot be allowed to see it and I think, whether it was intentional or unintentional, that did happen, and that's not acceptable," French said.
Mattheisen said her campaign didn't think it would be a problem.
"We were helping people vote when they asked questions. We, by no means, were pressuring votes or telling how to vote, because that's their choice," Mattheisen said.
Charlier said while she didn't set up computers, she urged some students to vote for her ticket on them.
"What I didn't want to be a part of is having students think that I was watching them vote or pressuring them to vote," she said.
Freshman Kalan Stittleburg said he felt pressured to vote on the Campus Mall.
"They were standing there so it was kind of like I didn't really have a choice of who I was going to vote for," he said.
He said he agrees with computers on the Campus Mall, but in a bipartisan context.
"If I could I would like to revote, but I don't think I can," he said.
Associate Dean of Student Development and Diversity and Senate's advisor Jodie Thesing-Ritter supported the idea of online elections.
"I, of course, didn't anticipate some of the issues that we have seen," she said. "Whether or not it was ethical and fair I guess is up to the individuals who participated in the process."
Charlier said she and Lauer want to work to bring Senate together and get past this.
"This isn't what Senate represents," she said. "We've walked into our own mess here, and I think it's up to us to fix it, and we owe that to the students."
In spite of the problems, French said he still thinks online voting can work, and in an online survey Senate conducted, students overwhelmingly were in favor of it.
"It works at every other UW school," he said. "I don't know why we can't make it work here."
"The campaigns on both sides were following the rules and trying to make sure that it was a good, clean election, and I think what happened is that the supporters of the two campaigns possibly took it too far," Charlier said. "I think Tim (Lauer) and I want to work to correct that and make sure that can't happen again."
Some candidates, including Mattheisen and Wee, set up computers for people to vote at on the Campus Mall Monday during Senate Day, a time for campaigning.
Senate questioned whether it is ethical to set up unofficial polling places and help people to vote.
"I think it's perfectly legitimate to take computers around and encourage people to vote, but they cannot be allowed to see it and I think, whether it was intentional or unintentional, that did happen, and that's not acceptable," French said.
Mattheisen said her campaign didn't think it would be a problem.
"We were helping people vote when they asked questions. We, by no means, were pressuring votes or telling how to vote, because that's their choice," Mattheisen said.
Charlier said while she didn't set up computers, she urged some students to vote for her ticket on them.
"What I didn't want to be a part of is having students think that I was watching them vote or pressuring them to vote," she said.
Freshman Kalan Stittleburg said he felt pressured to vote on the Campus Mall.
"They were standing there so it was kind of like I didn't really have a choice of who I was going to vote for," he said.
He said he agrees with computers on the Campus Mall, but in a bipartisan context.
"If I could I would like to revote, but I don't think I can," he said.
Associate Dean of Student Development and Diversity and Senate's advisor Jodie Thesing-Ritter supported the idea of online elections.
"I, of course, didn't anticipate some of the issues that we have seen," she said. "Whether or not it was ethical and fair I guess is up to the individuals who participated in the process."
Charlier said she and Lauer want to work to bring Senate together and get past this.
"This isn't what Senate represents," she said. "We've walked into our own mess here, and I think it's up to us to fix it, and we owe that to the students."
In spite of the problems, French said he still thinks online voting can work, and in an online survey Senate conducted, students overwhelmingly were in favor of it.
"It works at every other UW school," he said. "I don't know why we can't make it work here."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Micah Clemens
posted 4/22/08 @ 5:16 PM CST
I hate to think that Zimbabwe is looking pretty good right now...
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