Commission rejects election complaints

The Duke Student Government Election Commission rejected two sets of complaints regarding last week's class elections, DSG Attorney General Will Fagan announced Friday evening.

Basil Camu, a candidate for the Class of 2006 presidency, and Brooke Levin, a candidate for the Class of 2006 vice presidency, complained that the campus-wide e-mail that is usually sent to announce the opening of the online polls was not sent early enough in the day, causing a low turn-out. In some cases, students did not receive the e-mail until after polls had closed.

A majority of the commission ruled that the lateness of the e-mail was unfortunate and that the performance of the University administration, which was to have sent the e-mail, was unsatisfactory, but that there are no constitutional grounds to overrule the election. The commission wrote in the decision that there is no mention in election bylaws that an e-mail must be sent, that every candidate was inconvenienced by the late release, and that there was no way to measure the impact the lateness had.

In a separate issue, the Election commission also rejected the complaints of Yazan Kopty, a candidate for the Class of 2006 presidency, and Camu regarding an endorsement letter written by incoming DSG president Matthew Slovik that was published in The Chronicle. Election bylaws restrict endorsements from organizations but not from individuals, the commission wrote, adding that charges that Slovik served as the campaign manager for Jesse Longoria, who won the Class of 2006 presidency, could not be confirmed.

Quoting the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the commission also rejected the claim that Slovik's statement was slanderous and libelous.