Girod/Fitzgerald accused of violation; may be removed

By DARYL LANG
Collegian Staff Writer

Desha Girod and Garrett Fitzgerald's Undergraduate Student Government presidential victory was tarnished yesterday by an alleged campaign violation that could see them defending themselves in elections court later this week.

At issue is an e-mail from one of Girod's campaign workers sent to the Womyn's Concerns listserv asking for support of the campaign.

Ed Dempsey, candidacy and campaigning elections commissioner, filed the report yesterday accusing the campaign of sending unsolicited e-mail, a violation of the elections code.

The campaign worker who sent the e-mail, Jamie Klingler defended her message yesterday. Klingler, former USG director of town affairs, said that portion of the elections code applies specifically to candidates.

"The e-mail that was sent was not coming from me as someone on a campaign. It was coming from me as a member of the Womyn's Concerns listserv, which I have been a member of since I was a freshman," Klingler said. "It was not done through or for or by Desha and Garrett's campaign."

Dempsey said campaigning through unsolicited e-mail, if proven, is a major violation of the code.

"This is different from flier violations because it can actually get you disqualified," Dempsey said.

Klingler's message, sent Tuesday, asked listserv readers to support the Girod/Fitzgerald campaign and explained their platform.

"If you want to help, call or e-mail me, or if you have some time tomorrow just go up to one of our volunteers and help pass out handbills to gather more support," Klingler wrote in the e-mail.

After hearing her message was the subject of a violation report, Klingler produced an e-mail sent to the College Democrats listserv by Allison Boehret, a campaign worker for second-place ticket Art Spicciati and Rob McClure.

Boehret's letter, dated March 24, promotes Spicciati's campaign but is not as strongly worded as Klingler's letter.

It adds Spicciati and McClure's Web site to a list of other candidates' sites that was sent to listserv members. Boehret's letter also asks readers to "learn about the platforms of all the candidates."

Spicciati said yesterday it was the first time he had heard about Boehret's message but said he had "total faith" in his workers' abilities to make responsible decisions.

Collegian Staff Writer Tracy Wilson contributed to this report.